The Ice Alchemist
by Animegirl624
Summary: Edward and Alphonse Elric save a young girl by the name of Jade. She knows almost nothing about her family, and has been raised by her foster parents her whole life. As the boys learn about her true parents and as she learns alchemy from the boys, how will Jade affect their lives? Will she turn out to be a good thing for them, or is she now their biggest enemy?
1. Prologue

Hello there! My name is Jade.

I don't know what my real last name is because both my parents are gone. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father died a few months later from some disease.

I was supposed to be raised by my uncle, but I guess he was too busy as a State Alchemist to deal with raising me. So I was sent to some remote village for my whole life. My life was terrible until I was saved by the famous Fullmetal Alchemist.

Yes, I knew Edward Elric, and his little brother Al too.

But you would never have heard of me from either of them. Ed doesn't like to talk about any part of his life that involved me. It would be too painful. I know what you're thinking, and it's true.

Yes, I am dead.

But before I can tell you how I died, I have to tell the unspoken. I must reveal those secret parts of Ed's life that involve me. Because the story of his life that everyone tells is not completely true. I was there. Some things that he says others did were actually done by me.

He hasn't forgotten about me, and he never will. But remembering me is too painful. So I'm sorry for any pain my life story causes, but I want you all to know. You have the right to know.

My name is Jade, and this is the story of how I died.


	2. Chapter 1

I open my eyes and sigh as I see the all too familiar gray walls of my home.

I've been here for as long as I can remember. I never knew my parents, or any of my family, but the people who raised me say that the only family I have that's still alive is my uncle. But he didn't raise me because he's a State Alchemist.

I've been living here for twelve years now. But I have a strange feeling. A feeling that everything is going to change real soon.

I rise off of the bed and begin my usual daily chores. My life is, well, terrible. The only thing I do all day is chores and school, then more work. I only get the bare minimum amount of food to survive, but I'm still alive.

My only friends are a young girl who's in a similar situation to me, and a woman who lives across the street. They're both kind to me, but I long for real parents.

Still, I know something cool that no one else in this town knows: alchemy. I'm only a beginner, but I'm pretty good. I want to prove to my uncle that I'm good enough for him to raise me.

I sigh again, just thinking about my life, as I work on the front garden. Off to my left, I hear someone scream, then gunshots. People peek out of their homes to see what's going on. I myself stare to the left, wondering what could be happening.

A group of men come walking down the street, guns in hand. Every time they pass a house, a few men enter it and soon every resident of that house is standing on the lawn. One of the men, I'm guessing the leader, takes any young looking girl away from what I can see. Among the crowd of girls the men are hoarding, I see my young friend.

They've reached my house and the kind lady across the street's house. One man walks up to me and points his handgun at me. "Don't move." He orders in a gruff voice as two other men run inside my house. They bring out my parents and I look across the street to see Kimber, the kind woman, and her husband being dragged out of their house.

I forgot; Kimber is almost nine months pregnant. The baby should be coming soon.

The leader man walks up to me and my family and starts inspecting us. _What are we, his prey? _I ask myself as he looks over me. His gaze drifts up and down my body a few times, and it's making me nervous.

"Take her." He says nonchalantly before walking to Kimber and her husband. I watch him chose Kimber as well before two men take my arms and drag me towards their collection of women. Panic sets in and I try to break free as my parents simply stare in horror, not even trying to help me.

"No!" I shout, the panic rising. "No!" I look to my parents. "Please! At least tell my uncle!" I can only hope he'll care enough to save me.

Kimber's husband is fighting desperately to get to her, but one of the men shoots him in his left leg and he falls to the ground. "No! Marcus!" Kimber screams, and he reaches out towards her from the ground.

I'm pushed into the clump of about ten girls, and Kimber is pushed next to me. As we are herded forward, I take her hand and give her a sympathetic look. She smiles down at me sadly, tears in her eyes. _I can only imagine the pain she's going through right now. Being taken away from her husband, when their baby is soon to come… _I clench my other fist in anger.

After the men take every house on this street, they take us back to what I'm guessing is their main base of operation. Most of the men stand guard outside the filthy room we are all shoved into. The leader goes off into an adjacent room to do lord knows what, and I look around.

Fourteen girls in total.

This can't be real. It can't be!


	3. Chapter 2

Three weeks. That's how long I've been here.

This man, their leader, is pure evil. He does anything and everything he wants to us. He's killed many of us already.

So much for a rescue team.

Now I know he only took us for his own benefit. The little b-… Kimber's shout of pain ends my train of thought and I spin around to face her. "The baby! It's coming!" She wails.

No, not now! I don't know if we even have the resources to deliver a baby! I'm the oldest one left here besides Kimber, so I turn to the younger girls.

"Get as much hot water and clean towels as you can find!" Turning back to Kimber, I roll up my sleeves. "We're going to deliver a baby."

If any of the guards heard Kimber's screams, they're not coming. Like they care.

A few girls come back with a tub of water, and another with an armful of towels. "Jade, the only water we have in this dump is cold." A girl says sadly.

I wonder if…

Using a random screw I find laying around on the floor, I sketch a transmutation circle into the cold, hard ground. "Set the tub inside the circle." I say, and the girls obey. I clap my hands together, and then touch the both of them down on the ground on the edge of the circle.

_Please let this work! _I think to myself. I focus on doing alchemy and sparks fly from my hands. When I look at the water again, I can see steam rising.

"Whoa!"

"She heated the water!"

The younger girls exclaim in amazement. I stand again and start instructing the girls on what to do, while helping Kimber deliver. _This isn't good. She's becoming weaker and weaker. If this continues… If this continues, she won't make it. _

I count to ten again before I hear the shrill wail of a baby. I look down at the small child and I smile, tears in my eyes. "It's a girl Kimber, a healthy baby girl." I say quietly as I wipe the baby clean in the towels.

One of the girls fetches me a blanket, and I wrap the small child in it to keep her warm. "She's beautiful Kimber." I whisper, laying the baby on her chest so Kimber can see her.

There are tears in her eyes as well. "My beautiful baby girl." Kimber whispers weakly.

"What's her name?" I ask quietly, hiding my fears that the child won't ever know her mother.

"Lilly." Kimber whispers, looking sadly at her baby girl. "Mommy loves you, don't ever forget." She looks up at me and I know she won't make it through this. "Jade, please. Look after my baby." I nod, tears spilling down my cheeks.

"I promise Kimber, I promise to look after her." Then Kimber's eyes close for the last time, a small smile on her face. I know she's gone. Lilly starts to cry and I gently pick her up, rocking her in my arms.

"We should burry her outside." One of the girls, Katy, says quietly. I nod and rise from where I'm kneeling, keeping baby Lilly close to me. _I just hope that HE lets us do what we need to. _I think of their leader.

"Well now, seems like she finally had that little brat. Too bad she didn't make it. She was such a prize." _Speak of the devil. _I curse lightly under my breath and keep my protective hold on the baby.

"Don't talk about her like you own her. She had a husband who cared for her, but you had to take her away from him." I hiss angrily at the man.

"Don't use that tone with me, Jade." The way he says my name sends unwanted chills up my spine. "You know what I'll do to you." It's even worse, because I do know the things he does to us.

"Fine, but at least let us burry her body. And we'll need things to take care of the baby. I won't let you take her from me." I say strongly. He can't know that I'm afraid of him, he can't.

"Very well, I'll allow my men to let you into the yard." He yawns, obviously bored already, and walks off to tell his men. After a proper burial for Kimber, one of the guards brings in a bag of baby items. I nod to him, and he to me, before I look through the bag.

I keep Lilly safe in my other arm as I inspect the items. _Good, so the idiot knows what baby formula and bottles are. And diapers, that's good too. I swear to you Kimber, I'll look after Lilly. I promised. _I pull out some of the formula and one of the younger girls pours it into a bottle. I know that it should usually be warmed, but hey, we have to do the best with what we're given. Lilly drinks the formula happily, and I burp her before rocking her to sleep.

The poor baby, will she ever know her parents?

Or will she be like me, alone for all her life?


	4. Chapter 3

Roy Mustang's P.O.V.

One of my workers brings in a letter from an unknown address they say. But I know all too well that this address is where she is.

My niece, Jade Mustang.

I open the letter carefully and remove the parchment. _I wonder what could be happening. Her foster parents have never sent me a letter before. I wonder if she died… No, she couldn't be dead. _

I smooth out the piece of paper and begin to read.

Dear Roy Mustang,

I regret to inform you of the incident that occurred earlier in our town. A group of men, for unknown reasons, began kidnapping women here. I'm sorry, but they took Jade. None of the people that were taken have been seen again. We don't know if she's alive or not, or what's happening to her. The men that took her seemed like THOSE kind of people. She requested for us to tell you, just as they were taking her away. Even though she doesn't know you, Roy, you are the only living family the girl has left. I hope she's alright, and I hope you care for her wellbeing as well.

Sincerely,

John and Mary Evans

I have to reread the letter to make sure I understand this right. Jade was kidnapped by some thugs? _How long has she been gone? They better not have hurt her in any way. _

I sigh and think back on the day she was brought to me. I remember it so clearly, but she was only three months old then.

_**The rain pounds hard against the window as the storm rages outside. A car pulls up to the front of a house, and a man carrying a small baby runs up to the front door and rings the bell. **_

_**The sound echoes through the rooms, and another man answers the door to find the man and the baby crying out. "Roy, this is Jade. She's your niece. Please, she has to get out of the rain. May we come in?" **_

_**Roy lets the man in and shuts the door behind him. "Tomas, what is she doing here? She should be with her parents, right?" **_

_**Tomas frowns sadly as he rocks the baby to get her to sleep. "Then you haven't heard." **_

_**Roy looks at him in confusion. "Heard what Tomas?" **_

_**Tomas sighs and the baby continues to cry. "Roy, I'm sorry. But your sister, Kathryn…" He takes a deep breath before continuing. "She died. Giving birth to Jade." **_

_**Shock stabs at Roy's heart at this news. "W-what? She-she's dead?" **_

_**Tomas looks at his friend sadly. "But that's not all Roy. Her husband Jacob died of cancer last night." Jade screams out again, her crying never stopping. "Shh now baby, don't cry." **_

_**Roy looks over at Tomas and Jade. No, they can't be dead. Not his sister, his brother-in-law. They can't be gone. **_

_**Tomas sighs. "The poor thing, she won't stop crying." **_

_**Roy walks up and gently takes the baby out of Tomas's arms and rocks her gently. "Jade, it'll be alright." He says softly and she gradually stops crying. **_

"_**Well now, it seems she's taken a liking to you Roy." Tomas smiles gently, but his voice turns serious. "You must know now that you're the only living family the child has." **_

"_**I can't raise her, I know nothing about it." Roy exclaims and Jade looks up at him sadly, tears brimming in her eyes again, threatening to burst. **_

"_**Who else can raise her if not you Roy?" Tomas asks seriously. "I'll send her away somewhere. To a place where she won't have to be involved in any way with the State. She'll be safer that way." Roy replies, looking down at his niece. **_

"_**Very well. I'll respect your decision. I just hope you won't regret it."**_

I realize now that I do regret sending her away. But it was for her own safety. Who knows what people would've done if she had stayed and grown up here. She must be, what, twelve years old now?

"Sir? Is everything okay?" Lieutenant Hawkeye asks me, her voice full of worry. I must have been absorbed in my thoughts too long.

"Yes, everything is fine." I lie, glancing back at the paper.

"Sir, with all due respect, it's obvious that something is troubling you. Please, tell me what's wrong." She knows me too well, and I sigh, knowing I won't get away from this one. I'm just glad the others in the room have left on their lunch break.

"It's about my family, the letter." I say, trying to think of how to say this. I've never told anyone about Jade or her parents, only Hughes. Lieutenant Hawkeye looks at my, urging me to continue. I sigh again; I'm just going to tell it straight. "My niece, she's been kidnapped."

Her eyes widen in surprise, but whether it's from hearing I have family or that they've been taken I don't know. "I never knew you had a niece." Is her simple reply, yet her tone is begging me to explain.

"I had a sister, Kathryn, who moved away with her husband. I had heard that she was pregnant with a child, but when an old friend showed up at my house in the middle of a storm with a crying baby girl, I never thought that would be my sister's child. She died giving birth to the kid, and her husband died from cancer three months later. I was her only living family, but I couldn't take care of her. I couldn't."

I don't meet her eyes as I finish. "I sent her away to be raised elsewhere, and the letter is from the foster parents. She's been taken, and has been missing for a while now."

"I'm so sorry." Lieutenant Hawkeye says quietly and I feel her eyes burning into me sadly.

"Call in Fullmetal. I have a mission for him."


	5. Chapter 4

Edward Elric's P.O.V.

I'm called into Mustang's office out of the blue, so I drop everything and walk down the halls to his room. I knock on the door and I hear his voice come from the other side. "Enter."

I turn the handle and walk inside to see him and Hawkeye looking over a letter. "Um, you wanted to see me?" I ask, feeling a bit awkward here.

"Yes, I have a mission for you, if you're ready." Mustang says, and I step forward to the front of his desk.

"Is it about the stone?" I ask quickly, but he shakes his head no.

"This is about some disappearances in a small town due south of here. I want you to go down there and check it out, helping anyone you find when needed."

_A disappearance case? What's this all about suddenly? _I wonder but I simply nod. "I accept the mission."

Mustang gives me the details of the town and I walk outside his office, shutting the door. The second the door clicks into place, I hear Hawkeye's voice speaking. "You're not going to tell him about her?"

"No," Mustang says in a low voice, "I don't know if she's even alive anymore."

I decide to stop eavesdropping, so I walk down the hall towards my room. _Who's this girl Mustang is talking about? She must be important to him if he's sending me just to investigate. Is it his daughter, someone in his family? A girlfriend? _I shake my head; it doesn't matter right now.

I open the door to my room to see Al waiting for me. "So, what was your mission Brother?" He asks me in his usual tone.

I shrug, "Something about people disappearing in some town. I'm supposed to investigate." I put my fingers into quotations when I say 'investigate'.

Al starts to laugh lightly. "So, when are we leaving?"

Now it's my turn to smile. "As soon as we're done packing Al."

My P.O.V.

I rock Lilly gently as I sit on the small couch in this room. Most of the other girls are sleeping, except for the poor girl who's with the leader. Poor thing, who knows what he's doing to her.

I start to hum softly before I begin to sing the words of a song I don't remember knowing. It must've been something my father sung to me before he died, because I know my foster parents wouldn't have sung to me. And my uncle… He wouldn't have had me long enough to sing me to sleep…

"You can take everything I have; you can break everything I am. Like I'm made of glass, like I'm made of paper." I don't even know how the music to the song goes, but I know it's called Skyscraper.

"So go on and try to tear me down, I will be rising from the ground. Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper." By the time I'm done singing the verse, Lilly is fast asleep. I smile down at her. She's such a beautiful girl.

"Well now, who knew the girl could sing?" The leader's voice brings me out of my wanted trance.

"Great, done torturing Jane already?" I ask in a hating tone. Speaking of which, I see Jane limping out of his room, wrapped in nothing but a towel. I motion for her to sit on the couch; she's in so much visible pain. "Why the hell do you do this to us?! You think we want this?! To be tortured by you at your own pleasure?! To die by your hands because you get pissed?!" I can't take it anymore; this has been going on for so long now.

"You good for nothing brat." He spits at me, furious. "I'm the one who puts food on your plates, keeps you warm in the winter, and this is how you repay me?!"

"Are you even freaking kidding me?!" I scream, waking Lilly again. She starts to cry loudly as I continue. "You're the one who freaking stole us from our houses! You have no authority over us!"

A little girl who we know as Kitty comes up and tugs on my pant leg, motioning for me to hand her the baby before I explode. I nod and put Lilly into Kitty's arms.

"Oh, so now you'd rather die than be here?" The leader asks, a small grin appearing on his face.

"Yes." I say quickly. "But I won't be dying anytime soon, because someone has to protect these girls, keep them alive, and it certainly won't be you." His smirk only grew wider. _What is he smirking about? I just called him out and he's smirking?! I do not like where I think this is going. His room… _

He erupts into full out laughter. "Ah, I always said you were such a beauty, you know that Jade? You were the prize of my collection, and I only held off this long because I was afraid I'd kill you when we went too hard. But now that I know you're not afraid of dying…" He steps forward and grabs my wrist tightly. "We can have all the fun we want." His voice is low and husky, in a whisper.

"Hell no." I state immediately.

He only smirks wider. "Now, now, that's no way to behave. Come, we're going now."

I step on his foot hard, and glare at him. "I said no." I repeat.

"And I said get your arse over here." He's glaring back at me now, and he basically drags me into his toasty bedroom.

"No! I'm not doing this with you! I won't be a toy for your pleasure!" He slams the bedroom door shut and locks it. There's no hope for a rescue team.

"Ah, such a beauty." He murmurs, taking in the sight of every curve on my face. "Take off your shirt." He says, leaning against a wall. I shake my head no. I won't be a part of this. "I said, take it off. Or I'll kill the baby outside." I promised I'd protect Lilly, so I unwillingly remove my shirt. I stand there with only my bra covering my chest.

"Well?" I clench my teeth as I unhook my bra and I instantly cover my breasts so he won't see. "Mmm… I can't wait to dig into dessert." He says absentmindedly as he takes in every inch of my body. I know he wants more, and as I thought, he's in front of me in an instant.

He pushes me against a wall and crashes his lips against mine. He tastes disgusting, not at all how I imagined my first kiss. His tongue licks my teeth as I keep them clenched shut. His hands run down the sides of my body and undo my button on my pants. I try to push him away, but he's too strong. The rest of my clothing is slipped down my legs to the floor, leaving me completely exposed. His hand is about to touch me when I hear an explosion and the sound of gunfire.

Edward's P.O.V.

Al and I get off the train to see a small town in the middle of nowhere. "Well, this looks cozy." I murmur sarcastically under my breath.

"Cheer up Brother, at least the view is pretty." Al's right, the sun is just fading below the horizon, casting the sky into many wonderful shades of color.

"You're right. Let's get this started." We enter the town to see many people looking at us cautiously from their windows before pulling the shades down. "Wonder what's got them spooked." I say, looking around some more. An older women stands on the lawn outside the house. "Let's go talk to her, see if she'll give us any info." Al nods in agreement and we walk towards her.

"Excuse me? We're from the State; can you give us any information on all the disappearances that have been going on?" Al asks in a polite voice. The woman does a once over of us before showing us inside her house.

"Did Roy Mustang send you by any chance?" She asks, looking at an older man who I'm guessing is her husband.

"Yeah, why?" I ask her. They exchange glances before continuing.

"Because we're the ones who sent a letter to him for help. And these people aren't disappearing; they're being kidnapped by a band of no good thugs. And it's only women that are taken, so I guess you know what that means." I picture in my mind a group of thugs and a bunch of young women. Not a good combination.

"So, was someone you know taken?" Al asks them, and I look towards them curiously.

"Yes, our foster daughter. Didn't Mustang tell you? She's his niece." My jaw drops to the ground as well as Al's.

"WHAT?! MUSTANG HAS A NIECE?!" We shout at the same time.

"Yes he does, my lord, the guy never changes. Still won't admit to anyone that he gave her up." The man says sadly, and the woman nods in agreement.

"Anyway," I say, trying to change the subject, "Do you know where the girls were taken?"

The woman shakes her head. "Not exactly, but we know it's by the mountains. We can't go there because of our old age, and they have many gunmen stationed everywhere. We couldn't get close." I nod in understanding and stand up.

"Alright, we'll be heading over there now." Al rises as well and we make our way towards the mountain described to us by the couple.

"This is it Al." I whisper, looking at all the buff men carrying guns that patrol the area.

"Let's do this." Al says and uses alchemy to have fists of stone grab the men and suspend them in the air. I nod to him and sneak towards the entrance while he finishes the rest of the guards outside.

Once inside the building, I look around cautiously and take out any guards I see. But I'm met with a battalion of people. I clap my hands together and touch them to the ground simultaneously. A loud explosion goes off as the roof caves in on the men.

I leap over the fallen stone and come into a room where a bunch of girls around my age or younger look at me with shock.

_What have I just stumbled upon?!_


	6. Chapter 5

My P.O.V.

The leader pulls away from me and shoves me to the ground, touching my upper half roughly before standing and opening the door. He shuts it behind him and I know this is my chance. I quickly pull on my clothes and crack open the door.

Through the smoke, I can see he's fighting some young kid, and losing. The other person is using alchemy!

I sneak along the wall over to where Kitty and the others are. I take Lilly from her and herd the kids to the corner so they won't be harmed by the fight between the leader and this mystery boy.

In a few short minutes, the boy has the leader pinned to the ground, begging for his life. "Please don't kill me; I swear I'll stop all this!" I glare angrily in his direction. _Right, him, stop torturing women? Please, even a baby would have enough sense to know he'll never stop. _I think to myself as the boy pushes him up against a wall, knocking him out.

"Right, like bad people won't go back to their old ways." The boy says sadly. He has such a calming voice, and I'm somewhat attracted to him. He turns to all of us and walks forward. I put one of my arms protectively around the other kids as I hold Lilly with the other. "It's okay; I'm here to help you. I swear."

I want to trust him; something about him is so alluring. But I have to make sure I keep the girls safe. "Who are you? Why have you come?" I ask quickly, my fear that he'll just pick up where the leader left off too evident in my tone.

"Why am I here? To help you, obviously. I'm here to take you out of this hell." He offers me his hand. I hesitate to take it. "And the name's Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist."

I look at him in shock. He's a State Alchemist?! I shake my shock away and start to reach out towards his hand. The other girls seem a bit more relaxed, so I place my hand gently on his and he shakes mine lightly.

When our skin makes contact, I feel this spark of heat slither up my arm. I look up from the ground and our eyes meet. My green ones to his golden ones.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Edward's P.O.V.

The oldest girl finally takes my hand and I shake hers lightly. The second her skin brushes up against mine, this strange feeling shoots throughout my body. I look at her features, and they seem somewhat familiar. Mostly her dark black hair, but also the features on her face.

But when she looks up at me and out eyes meet, I feel lost in them. They're a beautiful sea green, so unusual for such a dark hair color. We're both lost in each other for a moment, and that feeling rushes through me, pumps my blood faster in my body.

_What is going on here? What is this that I'm feeling? _I reluctantly let go of her hand and straighten up as Al walks into the room.

"Brother, are they alright?" The poor girls look like the man had been giving them hell.

"We're fine, but are we free now?" The girl with the green eyes asks.

"Of course you're free. You can go back to your houses and your lives now." Al and I lead them out of the building and into the fading sunlight.

"I had forgotten how beautiful the sky could be." The girl whispers, holding the baby securely in her arms.

"I didn't catch your name back there." I say to her, giving her a small smile.

"Jade. Jade Mustang." For the second time today, my jaw drops.

"Did you say Mustang?" I ask and Al turns back to us.

"Yeah, why? Do you know my uncle?" She asks us.

"Yeah, I work for him." I reply, still gawking at her. This is why Mustang was so worried; he had a niece in this situation!

"Wow…" She says, and a little girl hugs her leg tightly. "Shh Kitty, it's okay now. You're going to get to go home now." The way she talks, it's like a motherly tone. And her voice is so… beautiful.

I snap out of my fantasies and turn back to Al. _What is it about this girl that makes me feel like this? And what is it I'm feeling?_

My P.O.V.

Love at first sight eh? Yes, he was perfect. But I put all that to the back of my mind and focused on the important things.

The two boys lead us out of our hell and into the fading sunlight. I find out that they know my uncle, better than his own niece does. It's sad really, and I want to know why he didn't keep me, but that'll have to wait until later.

We drop off all the younger girls at their houses, their parents so overjoyed to see them alive. Then comes the moment I'm dreading. I have to go see Marcus, Kimber's wife, and father to Lilly.

"This will only take a minute." I murmur to Edward as I walk up the steps to the front of the house. I knock on the door and Marcus answers it, his gaze filled with impossible shock.

"J-Jade? But-but how?" He stutters, completely confused.

"We were saved Marcus, by those two." I jerk my head back a bit, towards Edward and the other guy whose name I don't know yet, I realize.

"O-okay? But if you're here…" He trails off, but the unspoken question lingers in the air: Where's Kimber?

"I'm sorry Marcus, she's gone." He lets out a noise of despair, but I continue. "Marcus, she died giving birth to your daughter." He looks at me, the tears streaming down his face. "This is your daughter Marcus. Her name is Lilly. Kimber named her."

I feel tears brimming at my eyes as I hand the baby over to her father. "She's so beautiful, like her mother." I nod, and Marcus looks at me sincerely. "Thank you for looking after my baby." He whispers, and I nod to him before turning away and walking down the steps.

I know the tears I've held back for so long are streaming down my face as I walk towards Edward and the other guy. "Hey, are you okay?" Edward asks and his soft voice just makes me shatter.

The barrier that I had kept up so long is gone, and all my pain is being let out now. I begin to sob as I crash downwards to my knees, bending down with my tears pouring onto the ground. I see Edward kneel down beside me and his hand rubs my back comfortingly. But he doesn't help. Instead he makes me think of all the love that no one has ever given to me.

In the twelve years I've lived, this stranger is the one to show the most concern for me. I sob even harder, the sobs racking my body.

I can't take it, I can't!

Edward's P.O.V.

It hurts to see her like this. I've only just met her, but seeing her break down crying hurts me. After realizing that rubbing her back isn't helping, I pull her close to me, hugging her for comfort. "Shh, it's okay." I say softly, and Al nods, saying to keep going. "It'll be okay Jade."

Just when I think that she'll never stop crying, I hear two swift gunshots. We both shoot up to our feet, and she turns around to the house behind us. "No, please no." She whispers before breaking into a run.

"Jade! Don't go!" Al shouts, but she doesn't listen.

"Come on." I say, running after her. She runs into the house and I can hear her scream. I pick up my pace and run even faster. If anything is happening to her…

I run into the room to see that leader guy I knocked out earlier with a pistol in his hands. The bodies of Jade's foster parents lie covered in blood on the ground by his feet. Jade is down on her knees, crying and looking at their bodies.

"No, no, they didn't deserve this…" She whispers, traumatized.

The man begins to laugh. "If I can't have you, then I'll just make you miserable. I don't have much life left in me anyway."

And with that, he points his gun straight at me. "Brother!" I hear Al shout in fear before the gun is fired.


	7. Chapter 6

My P.O.V.

I can't take this. Too many, too many deaths! And now my parents? No, I don't have anyone! They were the only ones that cared!

I sob, staring at the gun wounds in their heads, the blood seeping all the way over to me. I raise my hands and look at the blood that stains my fingers. "No, no, they didn't deserve this…" I whisper, too shocked to speak to anyone in particular.

I know that the leader did this, and he says something about making me feel terrible if he couldn't have me. Edward and the other guy are in the room now, and I see the leader point his gun straight at Edward.

_No, he can't die too! _I think desperately, and the other guy screams, "Brother!" before the gun is fired.

The bullet blasts into Edwards's left shoulder, and his blood runs down onto the floor. He falls to the ground, unconscious, and I scream out in agony. I quickly draw a transmutation circle on the floor and clap my hands together before pressing them to the floor.

"I HATE YOU!" I scream at the leader as I use my alchemy to freeze him in a solid block of ice. "Damn you." I whisper before I realize Edward needs help.

"Y-y-you're an alchemist?" The other guy asks me, and I nod.

"Kind of. What was your name again?" I ask; I have to stop referring to him as 'the other guy'.

"Alfonse Elric, I'm Ed's brother. You can call me Al."

"Nice to meet you Al, now help me before your brother dies of blood loss." I say calmly. Al gets supplies for me as I treat Edward's wound.

I've become something of a nurse by treating injuries the other girls had, but they were never this serious. I can see Al is really worried, and since our town has no hospital, I'm the only one that can save Edward right now. He has passed out, and I know I must work quickly, or it'll be too late.

I focus on helping him, not letting all the sadness of recent events cloud my working. I manage to remove the bulled and sigh in relief when I see the wound isn't as deep as I thought. I pull out the needle for stitches.

"If he wakes up, you'll have to hold him down Al. any sudden movement and I could seriously mess up." He nods and I begin my work.

After a half hour, I have a rough stitching done. Well, it actually looks really good, but it's not professional. I sigh in relief and take a wet cloth to wipe away the blood on Edward's shoulder. I take another wet cloth and lay it on his forehead.

"Thank you Jade. You saved his life." Al looks at me and I could swear he was smiling at me from under that armor.

"I guess we're even then." I smile back, washing my hands of Edward's blood. "When he's fit to move again, we should have a real doctor look at him." I say as I stand and stretch. Al nods and I turn to face the other way to go get some fresh clothes, seeing as mine are stained with blood, when I catch sight of my foster parents again.

Now that I don't have to worry about saving Edward, I feel all the pain coming back to me. "Al, watch your brother. I have to do something." I say quietly. Al seems to understand and I walk past him, out of the house and to the garage. I pull out the shovel and I begin to dig two graves in the yard.

_They didn't deserve that. _I think to myself. _They shouldn't have died. It's all my fault. _I keep digging until I have two graves done. I know I'll have to move their bodies, but I don't know if I'm ready. I engrave two large slabs of stone instead, dreading actually burying them. I mount the stones beside the holes and walk back into the house.

Edward is still out; Al still watching him. I move the bodies of my foster parents out onto the lawn and put them in their respective graves. Using the shovel, I start to cover their bodies with dirt. Tears slip down my cheeks, and I put on the last shovelful of dirt before I fall to the ground again. I kneel in between the graves and cry.

"I'm sorry." I whisper as if they could hear me. "You didn't deserve this." I try to brush away my tears, but more come to take their place. "It's my fault, I'm sorry." I close my eyes and hand my head sadly. "It would be better if I had just died."

"Now don't say that." My eyes shoot open and my head jerks upward to see Edward in the doorway. There are fresh bandages wrapped on his injury; Al did a great job.

"Edward." I say quietly, looking away again. "It's true though. This is all my fault. Their deaths, your injury, it's because of me."

"Jade, you're also the reason I'm alive right now." His voice rings through the air. "Al told me what you did. Thanks." I'm glad I was looking away, because I blushed.

"It was nothing. You saved me, I saved you." If I had only been looking at him, I would've seen him blush as well.

"Equivalent exchange."

I sigh and shrug. "I guess." _But if everything is equivalent exchange, what did I gain by losing my foster parents? _

I wouldn't know it then, but in exchange for my parents, I gained two new friends, Edward and Al. I had no idea just what that meant at the time.


	8. Chapter 7

I can't stay in this town.

I go upstairs to the bathroom and strip myself down. I step in the shower and let the warm water flow over my body as I let my mind wander. No matter how much I confront the terrible parts of this town, my mind always wanders back to Edward.

Just the sight of his golden eyes is enough to make me go mad.

I chuckle to myself; I've only just met him, and I'm already falling for him.

I turn off the water and dry off my hair so it's nice and soft. I then slip on a black tank-top and black shorts and I look at myself in the mirror. I can see a few of the scars that I received in that place. I open the bathroom door and open the widow in my room. It's as dark as night now; Edward and Al shouldn't travel back to the State at this time of night.

I walk down the stairs to see that the two brothers are cleaning all the blood off the floors and walls in the main room.

"You know you don't have to do that." I say quietly, looking down at the floor.

"We know." Al says simply and I hear sympathy in his voice.

"It's late; you two are welcome to stay here for the night. It wouldn't be good to travel during the night time." I lean against the wall, and I find myself staring at Edward. He looks up and catches my gaze; I quickly look away, but look at him from the corner of my eyes. From the warmth on my cheeks, I'm sure I'm blushing again.

"Thanks Jade, that's very kind of you." Edward says and I can hear a smile in his voice.

"It's no problem, the least I can do for you. You can go wherever you need to in the morning. "They nod and I go upstairs to prepare sleeping places for them. I hope to find a way so I don't have to stay here.

Edward's P.O.V.

Al and I are cleaning up some of the blood stains when Jade walks down the stairs. She looks so beautiful, I notice, as the lights in the house show her radiant skin. _Wait, am I thinking about her skin?! What the hell?! _

When she speaks, her voice is so angelic. _What am I feeling? Why does she make me feel this way? _

I look up from my work, but she quickly looks away. _Does she dislike me? Did I do something wrong? _I wonder, but then I see her blush.

"Thanks Jade, that's very kind of you." I say, smiling softly at her.

"It's no problem," she says and I get lost in her beautiful eyes, not hearing the rest of her sentence. I just nod and she goes back upstairs.

"Brother…Brother!"

"Wha-What?!" I turn to all and he just stares at me. "Why were you calling me?" I ask, slightly angry for no reason.

"You were staring." He says simply and I feel my cheeks getting hot.

"I was not." I go back to scrubbing the floor, knowing Al was right. _I was staring at her? _

"We're going back to Central after this, right Brother?" Al asks and I nod. "Are… Are we taking Jade with us?"

I freeze; I don't know the answer to that.

"I mean, what does she have left here? And her uncle is Mustang, so, I thought we could take her back with us. She could live with the State Alchemists, and maybe she could take the exam, after more training of course. I'm sure Mustang would like to see her." I cut Al off before he continues to rant.

"She's an alchemist?"

Al nods enthusiastically and pints to the ice-encased man who shot me. "Yeah, she did _that _out of nowhere after you were… you know, shot. She was _really _mad, Brother. She drew the transmutation circle in a few seconds flat, and it was perfect. You should've seen it!"

I'm surprised, but a small smile creeps onto my face. "Al, if she wants to come with us to Central, we'll take her." I can hear the smile in his voice when he answers me.

"Thanks Brother!"

I give him a sly grin. "Do I sense a crush going on here?" I swear, if Al could blush through his armor, he would.

"N-n-no Brother! Y-y-you g-got it a-all wrong!" I just laugh at his embarrassment.

"I was just kidding Al." He sighs in relief and I notice Jade walk down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Thought you boys might want to eat before you go to bed." She calls from the other room. Al and I share a glance.

"I'm not hungry, but thanks." Al says; I know he's upset again.

I give him a sad glance as Jade continues. "What about you, Edward? You want anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine." I hear my stomach growl and I blush. Come to think of it, I haven't eaten since this morning on the train.

"I'll heat something for you, Edward." Jade chuckles from the kitchen.

"Thanks Jade." I smile to her. "And you can call me Ed." I see her nod in the kitchen as she heats something on the stove.

"I hope you like homemade chicken soup Ed. Made it myself, with a few tips from…mom…" Jade starts off happily until she comes to the subject of her dead foster parents.

"It smells delicious!" I say in a cheery tone, to lighten the mood. It's true though, the soup smells wonderful.

"Thanks, I hope you like it." She says, smiling again.

After a while, she ladles the soup into two bowls and places one in front of me. I take a spoonful and raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"It's amazing Jade." I tell her, and I see her relax, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You sure you don't want anything Al? You can have anything you want." I look down at the bowl of soup sadly. She seems to understand we don't want to talk about it, so she changes the subject. "So, what's it like being a State Alchemist? Or just a trained alchemist in general."

"It's good." I say simply. "As long as people use alchemy in a helpful way."

"Oh." Is all she says. After a long, awkward pause, Jade sighs. "Man, I can't do this." She stands and rinses out her empty bowl in the sink. "Your room is upstairs, to the right, third door on your left." And with that she walks past Al and heads up the stairs.

I notice I'm watching her until she disappears to the second floor. I sigh and clean my bowl before Al and I follow her directions to a fairly empty room. I slump down on the bed on the left and sigh as I close my eyes.

Tomorrow, we're going back to Central.


	9. Chapter 8

My P.O.V.

I have finally left this town.

Ed, Al, and I are on a train to Central. I'm nervous, but excited too. I look out the window, and I feel like a little child looking at toys in a toy store, but this is the first time I've ever been out of that town.

"What do you think of the outside world?" Ed asks, smirking.

"It's beautiful." I say in awe. "I never knew the world could be anything but painful. I thought that to achieve happiness, you had to die." I can see Ed staring at me from the corner of my eye as I gaze out the window. "But that's not true at all. Truly," I turn to face him and give him a small smile, "the most joy I remember having is meeting you two."

It's directed to both Ed and Al, but the truth is, meeting and falling for Ed is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I see Ed blush and I laugh softly.

"Thanks Jade, that's really nice." Al says, and I can hear the blush in his voice.

"It's true, every word." I wink at Al then look down at my hands.

"Jade, Al told me you're an alchemist. That true?" Ed asks suddenly.

"Yeah, but I'm not very good." I admit.

"We could teach you. You'd learn all the rules about alchemy, and grow stronger."

I look at them in surprise. "Really? You'd do that? I don't want to cause any more trouble than I have."

Ed shakes his head. "Nah, it'd be fine. We'd be more than happy to teach you. Right Al?" Al nods enthusiastically. "Well, it's settled then. You'll be coming with us." My smile turns to a grin at Ed's words.

The long train ride is filled with simple teachings from the brothers, but it still feels like forever before the conductor announces that Central is the next stop. I look out the window again to see the large city ahead.

_Wow, it's huge! Is this really where my uncle lives? _

As the train pulls into the station, I see a group of people in navy blue, military uniforms. There's a man with dark black hair, and dark eyes in the front. On his right is a woman with blonde hair that's pinned up. On his left is a tall, buff man with a single curl of light blonde hair on his head.

_Who are they? State Alchemists? _Ed stands up and offers me his hand. I take it gratefully, uneasy about my unfamiliar surroundings. Al walks off the train first, then Ed and I afterwards. All my excitement fades, replaced by nervousness as soon as I step off the train. Ed gives me a reassuring smile before leading me after Al to the people in the blue uniforms.

"Fullmetal, Al, was your mission a success?" The man with the dark hair asks.

"Yes sir, it was." Ed says in a forced calm. I get the feeling he doesn't like this person.

"Now who's the lovely young lady you have with you Edward?" The buff man looks around Al and I look down in embarrassment.

Ed pulls me forward gently so we're standing in front of the three people. "This is Jade Mustang, and we've brought her back with us because there wasn't anyone left for her in that town."

Ed turns to me. "Jade, this is your uncle, Roy Mustang." He nods to the man with the dark hair, and I look at him in surprise.

Everyone is shocked, myself included, but not Ed and Al since they already knew.

_I just met my uncle! _That is the one statement that is able to seep through my shock. _I'm not alone! _


	10. Chapter 9

You'd think this would be one of those heart-warming family moments when someone sees their family for the first time in a long time, right?

Dead wrong.

After getting over the shock that I'm actually here, my uncle nods to me, then turns and walks away.

This is one of those moments where everyone falls over anime style, but instead, I just feel hurt. _I finally meet him, after all this time, and that's how he reacts? _I bite my lip to keep myself from crying as I watch my uncle walk away.

Isn't this the second time he left responsibility for me behind? I want to just run away to somewhere, but I wouldn't know where to go. I don't want to be lost in a large city like this.

"Don't mind him; he has a lot on his mind." The girl says, breaking the silence. "Come on, let's find you a room." At first, I don't know if I can handle my uncle like this.

"Jade?" I turn to face Ed and he looks at me with concern. I taste something salty and I realize I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. I want to break down crying, but I know that won't help me learn alchemy.

I decide then and there that this is what I want to do.

I'm going to learn alchemy, and prove to my uncle that I'm not worthless.

Ed's P.O.V.

"Jade?" I ask her. She turns to me, but she looks like she's having some conflicts within herself. She's bitten her lip so hard that it's bleeding now.

I wait for a moment, so she can gather her thoughts. _What the hell is wrong with Mustang?! You'd think he'd be happy to see his niece after all this time! _

Major Armstrong looks at us for a moment before excusing himself, saying he'll talk to us later. Jade looks like she's made up her mind, so I offer my hand to her, asking the unspoken: Do you still want to do this? She takes my hand and smiles. "I'm ready."

Lieutenant Hawkeye shows us to an empty room and says that Jade can stay here. She unpacks her suitcase of only a few changes of clothes then turns to us. "So, what next?"

I can't help but smile as I take her to the library. "Here, you can study many things on alchemy." I inform her. The way she looks at the shelves of books, like she respects each and every one, makes me smile.

She checks out a few basic books on alchemy and goes back to her room to study. "We'll be back later; I have to file a report of the mission." I tell her.

"You have fun with that." She jokes, and I smile.

After I file the report, Al and I are walking back to Jade's room when Lieutenant Hawkeye pulls us aside for a word. "Listen boys, there's something you need to know about Jade's past, and I can explain why the Colonel didn't raise her himself." Hawkeye says in a quiet tone.

We go to a more secluded place. "Well?" I ask, ready to hear it.

"Jade's mother died giving birth to her, and records say that her father died three months later of cancer. When Jade was brought to Colonel Mustang, he hadn't yet heard of the death of her parents. He was distraught to lose his sister and brother-in-law, and now he was landed with their baby. Part of the reason he sent her away was because he didn't want her to become involved with the state, but the big reason was simple. Jade looked so much like her mother. Roy didn't know if he-"

I cut her off, angry. "So he didn't want to see the face of his dead sister?! That's why he sent her away to some remote village?!"

"Brother…" Al says quietly, but we both know that won't calm me down.

"Yes, Ed, that's why he sent her away. Now that she's older, imagine how much more Jade must look like her mother. Imagine how much that hurts Roy, and the guilt he must be feeling. He doesn't even know what happened to her there." Lieutenant Hawkeye sighs.

"What I'm trying to say guys is to be patient with him. He'll come around sooner or later, and then everything will be fine between the two of them."

I don't know if I believe that, but only time will be able to tell. We go back into the main hallway and, speak of the devil, Mustang comes right to us.

"I have another mission for you Fullmetal."

"What is it now?" I ask somewhat impatiently.

"I need you to go to the western area. They have a horror carnival there, and since the carnival has been in town, there has been an increase in the death rate there. You're to go check it out." Mustang states.

"Whatever. Come on Al." I turn and start to walk away.

"Brother, aren't we going to bring Jade?" Al calls after me.

I sigh and turn around. "Okay, but she better be careful. She doesn't know as much alchemy as we do."

"She knows alchemy?" Lieutenant Hawkeye asks in surprise.

"Yeah, she's pretty good too." I say, glancing at Mustang. I see worry flash once in his eyes, but it's gone as quickly as it came. "Alright, we're going now. Later." Al and I walk away from Hawkeye and Mustang to Jade's room.

My P.O.V.

I turn another crisp page in the alchemy book. It's so fascinating; all the things alchemy can do for people. It's inspiring to see some of the things people can do with alchemy. I'm looking at a list of all the different titles people have earned. As I move my finger down the list, I see some interesting ones.

Alex Louis Armstrong – The Strong Arm Alchemist; Roy Mustang – The Flame Alchemist; Edward Elric – The Fullmetal Alchemist. So, my uncle is like the lord of fire?

I shrug and turn back to the book on transmutation circles. The fact that there are just so many forms of alchemy is amazing. I want to learn as many as possible, the maybe my uncle will respect me. I _will _prove that I'm not useless.

Only a few minutes after looking at the transmutation book, I hear a knock on my door. As I stand up from off the bed, one of the many open books falls to the floor.

"Just a moment!" I call to whoever is at the door as I clean up the books. When I finally have them all in stacks on the dresser, I open the door. "Ed, Al." I say, kind of shocked to see them so soon. I thought that they had gone out.

"We're going on another mission; you want to come?" Ed asks somewhat impatiently.

"Yeah, I'll meet you downstairs. I just have to change real quickly." I smile, and the two brothers walk away.

I change into long black pants and a black tank-top. I pull my dark blue hoodie over the tank-top and slip on my black boots. Since my hair is long, I pull it back into a ponytail and braid it loosely, leaving only my bangs that are too short to make it back hanging by my eyes. I slip some chalk into my pants pocket; you never know when you'll need alchemy.

Now that I'm done, I run down the stairs. I don't want to keep them waiting. I see the reflection of myself in a window. It's only now that I realize how formfitting my clothes are. I look pretty good.

I open the main doors of the building and walk down onto the steps. I shut the door behind me as my vision is blurred with the sunlight. As my eyes get used to the light, I see Ed and Al waiting for me. I squint and wave.

Ed's P.O.V.

We're waiting for Jade to finish upstairs, so I look at all the different people passing by. It makes me realize how many people are in this world, and how different they are.

"Look Brother, there's Jade!" Al says excitedly. I turn around to see her walk out of the building. The wind blows slightly, whipping her bangs around her face. The sunlight shines down on her, making her look like and angel. _No, stop. You can't be thinking this way. She's your student now. Stop looking at her like that. _

Jade smiles one she sees us and waves. _But what is it he makes me feel? Why don't I understand?! _She runs over to us.

"Hey Ed, Al! Sorry I took so long." She grins again and I feel my face get hot. _Wait, what?! Why am I...blushing?! _

"It's not a problem." Al smiles through his voice, and Jade grins again.

"Alright, so we're going by train?" I nod in response.

"Yeah, and it's going to leave soon, so let's go." She and Al follow me to the train station. When we board the train, Al takes up one seat, so I sit by Jade opposite him.

"How long is the train ride going to be?" Jade asks.

"A few hours." I reply, stretching up and leaning back against the seat. She nods and pulls out an alchemy book and starts reading. I smile softly to myself.


	11. Chapter 10

Al's P.O.V.

I look at Brother, then at Jade. I smile to myself, knowing neither of them will be able to see the smile. It's so obvious, but neither of them seems to know. I see the way they look at each other. There are some crushes forming between them. I can see it, the way Brother blushes when he looks at her. And how Jade is so comfortable around him.

My opinion? They look adorable together. And in Brother's defense, she's only an inch taller than him.

Their personalities complete each other and Brother finally seems happy for once when he's around Jade. Ever since that night when we tried to bring mom back, the only thing that has med him happy was the stone. But now, it's like he's this whole other person. I'm glad he can finally be happy. But if the two of them aren't admitting their feelings, I won't say anything about it.

After a few hours, we arrive in the western train station. Once we exit the train, it's not hard to find this carnival. A man in a colorful outfit stands atop a platform with a mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Marti's Horror Carnival! Be amazed as we show you our never-before-seen creatures!" A cage door opens and an animal walks in on huge paws. It's a very husky animal with bright orange fur and golden stripes. A dark brown mane is like a wreathe around its neck.

"Chimera?" I whisper to myself, but Ed and Jade hear.

"What's a chimera?" Jade asks me in a whisper.

"A cross between lives, human or animal." I reply, taking a good look at it.

"A lion, tiger, and bear." Brother says, his tone certain.

"Cliché much?" Jade asks sarcastically as other crossed animals are displayed.

At the end of the show, we check into a hotel room. Jade is sitting on the window sill, looking over at the carnival, while Brother and I sit on the beds. "It's about time, right?" Jade asks quietly, and we rise off the beds.

"Yeah, let's check this out." Brother says, and we sneak out into the night.

"Be careful Jade." I whisper to her. "You don't know as much alchemy as we do."

"Yeah, and this might get serious." Brother adds.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Jade whispers.

When we reach the edge of the carnival, Brother suggests we should split up.

"See you two soon." Jade smiles and winks at us before disappearing into the night.

Brother sighs. "She better take it easy."

I chuckle lightly. "We weren't any different when we were first learning." I remind him.

He smiles softly. "Be careful, Al." And with that, he too disappears into the night. I wander around the carnival, and I get the feeling someone is watching me. That's when I hear Jade's scream. I look for where the sound is coming from, but I just don't know. It echoes all around me. I hear her scream again, the Brother shouting. I run as fast as I can to where I think the sounds are coming from.

My P.O.V.

This place is so strange. The chimeras glare at me from their cages and I walk away quickly. I hear the click of a lock, and I spin around to see the lion chimera step out of its cage.

"Well, shit." I whisper, drawing out my chalk. "How'd you get out kitty?" I ask quietly, glancing to the sides of the room, expecting a person, but nothing.

_I have to stall, buy time. _I draw a transmutation circle on the floor, slowly, never taking my eyes off the chimera. It growls and looks like it's going to tear my head off. I clap my hands together and touch them to the circle I just drew. A long, metal pole rises out of the ground just as the chimera leaps at me.

I spin to the side, hitting the pole against the chimera's head. Its teeth are only inches away from tearing at me. I'm pinned against a wall, with only the pole for defense, and the chimera is coming closer. Using the pole for leverage, I leap over the chimera, landing just behind it.

As I stand to run, my left ankle stings every time I put pressure on it. But I can't complain now, not when I have a pissed off lion/tiger/bear combination coming at me. I run as fast as I can, but my ankle slows me down. I a few moments, I feel the jaws of death bite down into my left shoulder. I scream in pain, my blood pooling underneath me. I hear footsteps coming in this direction, and I fear it's the ringmaster.

"Jade!" I hear Edward's voice, and the chimera turns its head, sending a whole new wave of pain through my shoulder. I scream again as Ed shouts at the chimera.

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't understand you, Ed!" I scream, the teeth pressing deep into my skin. The chimera releases me and I fall to the floor like a dead weight. _Bad analogy! Think positive! _As Ed fights the chimera, I move my good arm to touch my shoulder. My hand is stained red with my blood, and the pain is unbearable.

"Brother! Jade!" I hear Al's voice, but my vision is starting to blur. I see Al helping Ed, and together they finish off the chimera quickly. They both then run over to me. "Jade, are… Are you..?" Al's voice expresses his worry, and I would usually smile to relax him, but I honestly don't know if I can stay conscious much longer.

"You two should go… b-before another… gets lose." I manage to say through gritted teeth.

"No, we have to take you to a hospital." Ed says, looking at my wound.

"B-be… careful…" I whisper before I succumb to the pain. Everything around me goes black.


	12. Chapter 11

Al's P.O.V.

I sit outside the hospital room in Central with Brother. We were able to move Jade here, but not without difficulty. We had to take her to the Western hospital first.

"_**No! Damn it!" Brother curses, punching the ground. I hear the rain pounding on the roof, drops of water slipping through the cracks. **_

"_**Brother! Relax! We have to move! Now!" I shout, snapping him out of his trance. I lift Jade into my metal arms, her blood staining me red.**_

Brother taps his toe impatiently. Further down the hall, Colonel Mustang paces back and forth angrily. How long have we been waiting?

_**Brother and I run as fast as we can, but I hear that the other chimeras have escaped. Or been set free. They pound hard on our trail, following the scent of Jade's blood. They're so close now… "Al, run ahead with her! I'll keep 'em busy!" **_

_**I look at Brother, shocked. "No! I won't leave you!" I protest as we keep running. **_

"_**Al, she needs medical attention, and we can't lead these creatures into town!" Brother shouts, turning around and using alchemy to bring up a wall of earth which the chimeras soon destroy. "Go, Al! Go!"**_

I'm getting impatient now too, but I'm trying to just wait. It shouldn't be taking this long. Right?

_**I finally make it to the hospital, but Jade has lost a lot of blood. The tie on her shoulder to try to stop the bleeding is soaked now. She's really pale; I'm worried for her. **_

_**The hospital people have me take her into a room and put her on the hospital bed. "Will she be alright?!" I ask frantically. **_

_**One of the nurses gives me a sad but reassuring smile. "I promise we'll do our best."**_

It's been hours since then, and even longer since the commute back to Central. The door opens and a smiling nurse comes out. Brother and I jump to our feet. "She's doing just fine. She's stable and awake; you can visit her now if you wish."

I'm the first one in the room, followed by Ed. Colonel Mustang stops to talk to the nurse. "Al!" Jade exclaims when she sees me. "Ed!" Her smile brightens at the sight of us.

"Jeez Jade, don't scare us like that!" Brother exclaims, but he's smiling as well.

"Yeah, you had us all worried!" I add.

Her smile fails for a moment. "What happened to your automail, Ed?"

Brother looks away sheepishly. "Well, let's just say there was someone behind the chimera. Couldn't see who, or what, but it tore up my arm, the just disappeared."

Jade rolls her eyes, smiling again. "Oh, Brother…" I add in a playful tone.

"You better get that fixed up." Jade says, looking at the broken automail.

"Yeah, I know. We're going to see my mechanic as soon as you're fit to travel." Ed replies, and I get excited.

"We're going to see Winry?"

Ed grins. "Yep! And she'll kill me for this, but hey, she's the one who made it!" I see some excitement fade from Jade's eyes, but I shrug it off.

Colonel Mustang takes this moment to enter. "I thought you were supposed to keep her safe, since she didn't know as much alchemy as you two." He says seriously, looking between Ed and me.

"Since when have you cared about my wellbeing?" Jade spits back, glaring at her uncle.

"Whether I act like it or not, I'm still your uncle. You're the only family I have left. I never stopped caring for you." Mustang's voice is softer when he talks to Jade.

"Right, since you cared so much, you decided to send me off, _away _from the only family I had." She counters quickly. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She finishes, turning away from her speechless uncle. "Anything else from you two?" She asks, yawning.

Brother is speechless as well, and a knock on the door startles us. Lieutenant Hawkeye opens the door and smiles. "Well, since you're feeling better, I thought it to be time to introduce you to some of our other members."

The door opens wider to reveal some of Brother's colleagues. The room's atmosphere brightens as Jade's visitors grin at us.

My P.O.V.

I turn to see other people dressed like my uncle in the doorway. "Lieutenant." My uncle says simply.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, I didn't know you were stopping in." Ed gives one of his goofy smiles.

"Yeah, well, I thought your friend/ apprentice might want to meet some of the people she may be working with."

The buff man from the train station steps forward, taking off his shirt. He does a few poses, going on about some 'family trait'.

"That's Major Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist." The Lieutenant explains.

"Nice abs, Major." I smile, and I swear that sparkles appear around his head.

"You are a true artist! I welcome thee to Central!" He says dramatically. Ed looks at him like he's crazy, and I smile at the look on his face.

I'm introduced to my uncle's 'underlings' and then the last man steps forward.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Maes Hughes."

I shake his hand and smile. "Mr. Hughes, nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you from Ed and Al." Ed gives me a look that clearly says 'don't ask about his daughter'. I raise an eyebrow, but I don't say anything.

Hughes pulls out a picture anyways, and Ed rolls his eyes. "Oh boy, not again." Ed whispers, preparing himself for something. I give him a confused look before the picture is shoved in my face. Hughes starts spewing rapid words about how adorable his daughter is.

"M-M-Mr. Hughes!" I interrupt him, and he stops talking. I take the picture from his hand and smile. "I can't see how cute she is if the picture is this close to my face." I start to giggle and Hughes smiles.

He lets me look at the picture without interrupting me. The picture is of a little girl, still in her toddler years. Her cute hair is pulled up into pigtails.

"Aww! Mr. Hughes, she's so cute!" I say, speaking the truth about his kid. Most of the people in the room look at me with shocked faces. I simply giggle. "What? I know a cute kid when I see one!"

Ed's P.O.V.

I can't help but smile at Jade's last comment. She and Hughes talk about his kid, and I catch myself watching her. Every smile Jade makes lifts my spirits. I see Mustang looking at her too, and Lieutenant Hawkeye is whispering something to him.

"Alright Maes, that's enough for one time slot. We better let her rest and get back to work." She says seriously and she and the guys who work under Mustang leave.

"Good-bye my dear! Get well soon!" Major Armstrong says, his voice over-dramatic as usual. Jade just smiles and waves as he exits the room.

"You'll have to come visit us after you're better!" Hughes smiles.

"I will, after we get Ed's automail fixed." Jade replies, smiling as well. Hughes nods to Al and I, salutes Mustang, then walks out of the room.

"We'll bring you some of your books if you want." I offer.

"Thanks Ed, I'd appreciate it." Jade replies, still smiling. Mustang starts to walk away, but Lieutenant Hawkeye is suddenly in the doorway, like she was expecting this and was prepared. She shakes her head no and whispers something to Mustang who protests quietly.

"Boys, why don't you come with me?" Hawkeye suggests, cutting off whatever Mustang was saying.

"Okay, we'll visit you later Jade." Al says, practically dragging me out of the room after Hawkeye. Jade sighs and waves to us. Hawkeye shuts the door behind us, leaving Mustang alone with Jade inside.

"Al, what was that for?!" I ask in a loud tone.

"Roy and Jade need time to sort things out." Hawkeye explains to me. "Since Jade can't go anywhere, the only problem was Roy."


	13. Chapter 12

My P.O.V.

I ignore my uncle, looking out the window at the still cloudy sky instead. "Why are you even still here?" I ask finally, breaking the annoying silence.

He shrugs. "Hawkeye won't let me leave."

"That's a bull answer." I say, turning to him finally. I ignore the sharp pain in my shoulder.

"Jeez, you're just as fiery as the pipsqueak." He smirks.

"Ed is not short!" I shout, crossing my arms. "I pity him, working under you."

My uncle frowns at me then. "Listen Jade-" He begins, but I cut him off.

"I don't have to listen to a word you say."

He sighs, holding the bridge of his nose. "I'm your uncle, Jade. That right forces you to listen to me."

_Does he even know what he's saying?! _

"You lost all privileges that came with being my uncle the day you sent me away." I say, my voice filled with spite. "You had your chance, a chance to raise me, a chance to have that special bond family members should have. You're the only one I have left, but you killed those chances in one fell swoop, and burnt the remains. That small ember that wants to reach out and join with the blazing fire? That's me. I'm all that's left, and I'm afraid to reach out to you. I'll say it, I'm afraid to trust you." I look at my uncle seriously, and I swear sadness flashes across his eyes.

"I didn't mean to burn any chance at a relationship between us, Jade. I didn't want you to get involved with alchemy. It's so dangerous, and I wanted to protect you from that. I've realized I could've protected you while raising you, so do you want to know the real reason I couldn't raise you?"

I look away for a moment. "Didn't know _how _to raise a baby?" I ask sarcastically.

"Well, yes, but I could've learned. No, there was a different reason; one I'm not proud of." Now he can't meet my eyes.

"Well?" I ask impatiently, not understanding how this could be hard for him.

"You looked- still look- so much like your mother, my sister. I know it was selfish of me, but I had just learned that you parents died, and that you were the only one left as my family. I could've done it Jade, I could've raised you. But you looked so damn much like your mother, and I couldn't do it."

He looks up at me and his voice, his gaze, softens. "You still look so much like her. So beautiful." His faint smile leaves as he becomes serious again. "I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but I'm here now, with an open mind and outstretched arms. I want you to be able to trust me Jade."

After hearing all this, I'm silent. I want to hate him, to be mad at him for what he did. I want to be like ice and freeze over, not trusting anyone. I guess I got a small part of his flame after all, because I can't bring myself to hate him.

Instead, and much to my surprise, tears come to my eyes. I can feel the small sobs racking my bod, and I see my uncle's surprise. "I-I f-forgive you." I manage to whisper, biting my lip softly to hold in my tears. It doesn't work. He walks over to my bedside and pulls me into a gentle hug. "We're all we have left." I whisper and he nods.

"I won't leave you alone again, I promise." He says softly.

Al's P.O.V.

I wait with Lieutenant Hawkeye down the hall a bit from Jade's hospital room as Brother goes to get some of the alchemy books Jade's been studying. Colonel Mustang suddenly walks out of Jade's room, straightens his jacked, and walks down the hall towards us. He nods to Lieutenant Hawkeye, and then walks past.

She smiles softly to herself. "They made up." She says and I'm amazed.

"Whoa, how did you know…? What?" I'm so confused now and this is when Brother comes back.

"What's up with you?" He asks, seeing my state of confusion.

"Oh, nothing Brother." I sigh, giving up on trying to understand what just happened. We give Jade her books and help teach her alchemy as she recovers.

It's been two days, and Jade was just released from the hospital today. Brother is buying tickets to our hometown of Resembool so we can have Winry fix his automail arm. Brother has his usual outfit on and Jade has her dark suit with blue hoodie combo.

"Ed, the train is leaving soon! Do you have the tickets or not?" Jade calls over the blow of the rain whistle.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" He yells back to her, running over to us. We all just make it on the train, and I sit on one side of the cart as Brother and Jade sit on the other.

"So, what's your hometown like?" Jade asks suddenly.

"Quiet, peaceful." I say, remembering our old home.

"The opposite of Central." Brother jokes, smiling.

"I see." Jade says quietly, looking out the window at the passing trees.

"Is something wrong?" I ask her, concerned at her behavior.

"No, it just sounds like you had a good childhood in a good place." She sighs, still looking out the window. I share a look with Ed.

"Yeah, it was good." Ed murmurs.

"Until she died." I add quietly.

Brother and I both agreed. It's time to tell her the truth.

My P.O.V.

"Until she died." I hear Al say, and I turn to face the two brothers.

"She?" I ask quietly, sensing that this is a sensitive topic for the two of them.

"Our… Mother." Al continues. "She died of a disease, and our father had left us years before. We… we did something terrible."

I stay silent, letting them take their time.

"We committed the ultimate taboo Jade." Ed whispers.

I can't help but gasp. I read about the taboo in the world of alchemists, human transmutation. "You tried to bring your Mother back, didn't you?" I whisper, unable to meet their eyes.

"Yeah, and I lost my leg as a result." Ed replies.

"Jade." I hear Al's voice as I look up. "I have to show you something." He takes his helmet in his hands and removes it. Where I expected a body to be, there was only emptiness. Then I see the blood seal.

"I gave up my arm to bond Al's soul to this armor." Ed says and Al puts the helmet back on.

I imagine this would be the point when the person would freak out, or laugh at their foolishness. "I'm so sorry." I whisper, and I can tell that's not what they expected me to say. I touch Ed's left hand gently and I turn to face him. "I can't even imagine what that must've been like, or how that feels even now." I take one of Al's hands in my other. "And I'm sorry this had to happen to you."

I see Ed's lip quiver and I pull him into a hug as he cries softly. "Shh… It'll be okay." I whisper softly, rubbing his back gently. When he pulls back, he nods in thanks to me as he wipes away his tears, too sad to speak.

Now I know that Al can't really cry, but his armor is shaking like he'd be crying if he could. So I hug him too.

"Oh, Alphonse." I hug the armor tightly. The poor thing; I wish I could help him, but I have no power here.


	14. Chapter 13

Al's P.O.V.

I hug Jade back and Brother is still wiping away tears.

If I was human, I'd cry too. If I was human, I'd feel the deep pain Brother does. If I was human, Jade's hug would bring warmth to my cold body.

The sadness in her voice as she says my name only makes me shake harder, the tears I can never cry imaginatively falling down my face. I look down to see that she's crying too. We pull apart and she wipes away her tears.

"Why are you crying?" I ask her, my voice shaking.

"I'm crying for you." She replies quietly. She puts her hand on my metal one again. "I'm sorry Al…"

I do my best to make my voice cheerful. "Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault." She nods and looks out the window again.

"I wonder what my life would've been like with real parents…" She mumbles and I get the feeling she didn't mean for us to hear that.

The train ride seems quiet short before we reach our hometown. We exit the train station and I smile at Jade's reaction. "Whoa guys, it's beautiful." She whispers.

Brother chuckles and we walk down the dirt road to the Rockbell residence. "Granny! Winry!" Brother shouts as we near the house.

The front door opens and Granny Pinanko steps out, surprised to see us. "Edward, Alphonse." Brother grins as we walk up the steps. Jade pauses at the bottom. I turn to her, to see her uncomfortable expression.

"Don't worry Jade, they're like family. Come on." I offer my hand to her as Brother and Granny argue about how short they are. Jade smiles gratefully and takes my hand.

"Ah, who's this?" Granny asks, ending her argument with Ed. "Is this your girlfriend Alphonse?" She asks further, and I blush.

Well, you know, if I could, I would be.

"N-n-no G-granny! Y-y-you g-got it a-all wrong!" I stutter, and I see Brother dying of laughter at my embarrassment. I also see Jade blushing shyly too.

"Then, is she your girlfriend Edward?" Granny asks, and brother stops laughing. A faint blush shows on his face now.

"Nah, she's our student. This is Jade. We're teaching her alchemy." Granny frowns and is about to say something when a wrench comes flying out of nowhere and smacks Brother in the head. He falls backward off the porch and onto the ground.

"Ed!" Jade exclaims, jumping down to kneel beside him. Winry appears from her balcony on the second floor, her arms crossed in anger. Jade looks up at Winry, and she looks down at Jade.

It's like everything freezes, as they glare at each other. "I'm assuming you're the mechanic?" Jade asks, trying to keep her voice kind.

"Yeah, that's right. Who are you?" Winry asks, not even trying. Jade helps Brother up, and he dusts himself off.

"Thanks." He says, and Jade smiles. "One, what the heck was that for?! And two, this is Jade. We're teaching her alchemy." Brother says, turning his attention to Winry.

"Well, you leave for years, not sending so much as a letter, and then you just show up!" Winry shifts to the side, her arms still crossed. "And as for her, where did you pick her up?"

"Winry!" Granny exclaims at Winry's rude tone. Jade flinches and looks down at the dirt.

"Anyway, why did you come here?" Granny asks us.

"Brother needs his automail repaired." I reply to her. She nods and motions the three of us inside. I notice Jade leaning in the doorway as Winry and Ed talk about his arm. She's still looking down, but glances up at them every now and then. I get up and walk over to her.

"Something wrong Jade?" I ask quietly as Brother bursts into laughter.

"No, it just, your mechanic doesn't seem to like me." She says softly.

"She just doesn't know you yet. "I reassure her and she smiles.

"Thanks, Alphonse."

My P.O.V.

I sit by Al for the rest of the day as Winry fixes Ed's arm. It starts to get late when the older lady, Pinanko, makes some dinner. "Would you like any, Miss?" She asks me and I shake my head no.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." I smile politely, and Ed gives me a strange look. "I'll be out on the lawn." I say to Al before I walk out the front door with my alchemy book. I lay down in the soft grass as I flip through the pages in my book. I hear the cheerful sounds from the house as they catch up.

_Is this what family is supposed to look like? _I ask myself, but I have no answer.

It soon becomes too dark to read, so I just lie on the grass and think. I barely hear the footsteps approach me. "Jade?" I turn on my side and look up to see Ed.

"Don't mind me. I wouldn't want to keep you from your family." I say softly, lying back on the grass again. I hear him sigh, then he's sitting on the ground beside me.

"There's something bugging you, I can tell. What's wrong?" He asks, his voice low and soft.

"It's nothing I can handle." I say softly; I don't want to mess up what family he has left.

"You can trust me Jade." Ed turns to face me. "What's wrong?" I'm about to tell him that I think Winry hates me when, speak of the devil, she appears at the front door.

"Ed, you should come inside before it gets too cold out." She calls in a sweet voice. Ed glances at me but I shrug.

"Go on, I'll be in in a few." _Of course she doesn't care if I'm left in the cold. _I think silently, but I put a smile on my face for Ed's sake. He needs friends, especially going through what he and Al are. "Go on, get some rest Ed." I say quietly.

He nods and stands, stretching before he goes back inside. Winry gives me one last glare before following him. I wait for a few minutes before I rise off the ground and head inside.

"You can take the room upstairs on the left, the end of the hall." I turn to see Pinanko, sitting and puffing her pipe.

"Thanks." I smile and climb the stairs, which creak beneath me. I pass the other rooms, and when I'm only three doors away, Winry steps out of her room on the right, blocking my path. "Excuse me, but I need to rest for tomorrow." I say softly, in a forced kindness.

She pauses, as if thinking about letting me pass or not, but doesn't move. "Listen, Ed and Al and I have been best friends since we were little kids. I don't want you to ruin that. I don't know who you are or where you came from, and I don't care. But I want you to stay away from them."

I sigh, trying to stay calm. "Listen, I'm their friend now too. They're teaching me alchemy. I care about the two of them. I'm not going anywhere."

She crosses her arms and frowns. "Fine. But don't even think of loving Ed."

I look at her, confused. _What right does she have to order around my feelings? _

"We're betrothed." She says, a small smirk forming on her face. I feel like my heart has been crushed in two.

"I see." I whisper, not planning on giver her the satisfaction of seeing me cry. "Now if you'll excuse me." I walk past her and I flop on the bed after locking the door. "Damn… Why does the world insist on doing this to me?" I whisper to myself as tears run down my cheeks. "Guess this makes me weak." I murmur.

Ed's P.O.V.

In the morning, I stretch and dress myself in my usual outfit. "Morning Al." I yawn when I see him.

"Morning Brother." He replies in his cheery tone. We both go down stairs to see Winry and Granny. Winry seems to be happier this morning. I brush aside the thought as I eat some breakfast.

"Where's Jade?" Al asks, and Winry frowns.

"Probably sleeping." She adds something under her breath that I can't hear. At the creak of the stairs, I look to see Jade coming down the stairs. She's wearing blue jean capris and a dark purple tank-top. Her hair is down and slightly messy.

"Hey, morning sleepy-head." I grin to her, but she looks away and mumbles, "Morning…" The smile instantly leaves my face, and I notice her usually bright eyes are dimmer. She also has her bag already packed. "Jade?" I ask, rising from the table.

She pauses, her hand tightening around her bag. "Would you like anything to eat honey?" Granny asks, but jade shakes her head no.

"Thanks, but I'm not very hungry."

"But Jade, you didn't eat anything last night either!" Al protests seriously.

"Don't worry about me." Jade whispers. "I'm going back to Central." She straightens up and heads for the door.

"Wait Jade. We're all done here now. Just wait for a bit and we'll all go back together." I say quickly before she can leave.

"Fine." She sighs. "I'll be on the porch." And with that, she leaves.

"What's gotten into her?" I ask aloud, clearly expressing my concern. Winry shrugs, obviously not caring, but she's smiling again now.

_What is going on between those two? _I wonder, but then Al sets his bag against the wall and turns to me.

"I'm all packed. Let us know when you're done and ready." Then he follows Jade outside.

_Okay, this is getting weird. What's up with them? Are they..? _I gasp at my thought. _No, they wouldn't be having a secret relationship, would they. Even if they were having a relationship, why would they keep it from me? _I shake that thought away. It wouldn't happen like that.

So then, what is it?

Al's P.O.V.

I shut the front door behind me and look out on the lawn. Jade is lying in the grass, using her bag as a pillow. I walk down the front steps and I sit on the grass beside her. "Did something happen between you and Winry?" I ask flatly but quietly.

"No, don't worry about it." She says back, not opening her closed eyes.

"Please Jade, don't shut me out." I notice my voice sounds slightly panicked, but the thought of her leaving us hurts. And I can't feel pain. "Please."

Jade sighs and sits up. I see her body shake lightly. "I can't, Al. I don't want to involve you."

Now I notice she's crying. "Jade, I want to be involved. That's what friends are for." I pull her close to me, hoping my cold metal body can give her some comfort. "It's okay to hurt."

She cries harder and I hear the door open behind me. I turn my head to see Brother with our bags. A surprised look crosses his face, and Jade only cries harder.

"Wh… What… Al?" Brother stutters, still simply standing there with a shocked look on his face. I look down at Jade then back to Brother.

And it clicks.

She and Winry both like Ed.

And neither of them wants the other to win.


	15. Chapter 14

My P.O.V.

I don't know why I'm crying. I don't understand it. I've already accepted the fact, so why am I crying now? I don't look up when the front door opens, and I only cry harder at Ed's voice.

But I don't understand it! Why would his voice make me cry?!

Al pulls me in tighter, his metal body actually quite comforting. "Brother, just go back inside. We'll be ready in a minute." Al says to Ed, and I soon hear the door shut attain.

"I get it now, Jade." Al whispers softly, his voice soothing. "Just give it some time. Everything happens for a reason."

Ed's P.O.V.

I shut the door behind me after I go back inside. A thousand thoughts are running through my mind right now. _Why was Jade crying? She hasn't cried like that since the day we met her. And why did she seem to sob harder after I spoke? Is this my fault? _

Winry gives me a strange look, and Granny is also staring. "Jade was crying." I say simply, and a look of guilt crosses Winry's face. "Winry, do you know something I don't?"

"N-no! Of course not!" She says quickly, putting her hands up in defense. I sigh; it's too easy to tell she's lying.

"You've never lied to me before Winry, why start now?"

She tilts her head down. "I did something awful." She whispers in shame.

"It involves Jade I'm guessing?" I ask, my voice rising in anger.

Winry nods. "I'm sorry Ed, I… I told her…" I clench my fist, preparing for anything. "I told her we were betrothed." She whispers and my jaw drops, but she continues before I can speak. "You have to understand Ed; I didn't want to lose you, and Al, to some girl!"

"She's not some girl Winry! She's my friend!" I retort.

"I'm your friend too! And you've known me longer!" She protests.

"It sounds like you're jealous, Winry." Granny adds quietly.

"Why would I be jealous of that show-off?!" Winry exclaims in anger.

"Maybe because I have feelings for her that are nonexistent for you." I say quietly, realizing what all these thoughts have been. "Yeah, I think I… I think I love Jade."

Winry gasps before running off to her room. "Go now, mend things with Jade." Granny says to me. "I'll talk to Winry."

"Thanks Granny." I smile, exiting the house once more.

My P.O.V.

I finally stop crying, and I wait with Al for Ed to come back out. When the door opens, I avert my eyes and I start down the path towards the train station. I go slowly enough so I won't leave the boys behind, but fast enough to stay away from Ed.

"Jade!" He calls out, but I ignore him.

"Jade!" I don't stop walking, and I don't turn back.

"JADE! Damn it! Quit ignoring me!" I whip around to face him, and he and Al stop dead in their tracks. I assume the look on my face is scary, but I don't care.

"I don't want to talk to you! Just leave me be with my thoughts!" I then turn around and continue down the road, not caring if they're following me anymore. I want to go back to Central.

Al's P.O.V.

I watch in shock as Jade screams at Brother, then walks away. "Damn it, she hates me now." He whispers, and I turn to him.

"What happened anyway?" I ask him. Brother sighs and starts walking again.

"Winry told her that she and I were betrothed."

I gasp aloud. "Why would she do that?!" But then it hits me.

"She was jealous of my feelings for Jade and not her." Brother voices my thoughts.

"That's still over-the-top, right?" I ask and he nods.

"I just hope I can explain things to her without her exploding again."

We continue walking, now in silence, until we reach the train station. Brother buys the tickets and we board the train. Jade sits by the window and takes out her alchemy book, ignoring glances from Brother.

"Jade…" He starts, but she holds up a hand to stop him. He looks at me, but all I can do is shrug. The whole train ride is like this, the awkward so thick you could cut it with a knife.

I start to wonder why life is so cruel. Brother finally finds someone that makes him happy, and something has to happen to teary them apart. I just hope that things will go better soon.

The train pulls up into the station and Jade shuts her gook, still ignoring Brother. He sighs and we all exit the train. "I'm going to visit Mr. Hughes and his family." Jade tells us, but she's turned to me.

"Okay, we'll tell the colonel if we run into him." I say, waving as she jogs down the street. She waves back before she disappears around a corner. "You know you'll have to break through to her eventually, right? I hate seeing her like this." I say to Brother, still staring to the last spot I saw her.

"She doesn't seem mad at you. Could you talk to her for me?" He asks quietly and his tone is sad.

"It would be better coming from you, but I'll see what I can do." And I really do pity him.

It's not fair that this happened.

My P.O.V.

I have to get away from everything. Besides, I promised Mr. Hughes that I would visit once we got back from repairing Ed's arm. I stop at a small flower shop and look at the selection. I pick three right roses and two blue roses for a bouquet, two purple lilies for Mrs. Hughes, and two pure white daisies for their daughter. I pay with the money I was able to take before I left my hometown, and continue to walk to their place.

I smile as I get farther and farther away from Central Headquarters and closer to the Hughes household.

I knock on the front door, and I hear shuffling inside. The door opens, and Mr. Hughes grins once he recognizes me. "Sorry, I should've called ahead of time." I smile apologetically.

"It's no problem; I assume you and the Elric brothers just got back then?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, they're checking in, or something." Mr. Hughes sees the flowers and his smile only gets bigger.

"Honey, come over here! This is the girl I was talking about, Roy's niece!" A beautiful young woman walks towards the door, a little girl trailing behind happily.

"Your family is beautiful." I whisper to Mr. Hughes before the other two are in earshot. He only grins brighter. "You must be Mrs. Hughes." I smile at the woman.

"Please, call me Gracia. You're Jade right?" I nod to her. The little girl peeks out at me from behind Gracia's leg.

"And who's this adorable little girl?" I ask, my smile growing wider. I remember her face from the pictures Mr. Hughes showed me. He scoops the little girl up in his arms.

"This is our baby girl Elicia. Isn't she just the most adorable thing ever?"

"Yes, she's gorgeous Mr. Hughes." I wave to little Elicia and she giggles, waving back.

"Call me Maes. And come on in, we're happy to have you." I smile and step in, looking at their beautiful house.

"These are for you Gracia." I say, handing her the roses and lilies.

"They're wonderful Jade." She smiles and goes into the kitchen to put them in a vase. Maes has put Elicia down now, so I crouch down to her level and smile.

"And these are for you sweetie." I hand her the daisies and her face brightens.

"Look Daddy!" She exclaims, showing off her flowers. Maes tucks one behind her ear and I can't help but "Aww" at the sight of her. She giggles again and goes to show her mother. I smile as I watch her; she's the perfect image of a perfect child.

"She's wonderful, Maes." I whisper and I feel a tear roll down my cheek. "She'll have such a good childhood, with her amazing parents." I feel his hand rest on my shoulder and I turn back to him. "And you'll be the perfect father." I smile.

_Like the one I was never able to have. _I add silently in my mind.

"Thanks Jade." He says softly.

Elicia comes back in and she sits on my lap as I tell her a fairytale I'm making up on the spot.


	16. Chapter 15

Ed's P.O.V.

I walk back into Central Headquarters and, just my luck, the first person I encounter is Mustang. Al shows up behind me and I know the question is coming.

"Where's Jade?" Mustang asks simply.

"She's visiting the Hughes' place." I reply casually, not saying anything about our fight.

"Why didn't you go with her?" He continues to fire questions at me.

"She wanted some alone time." I say, but then I think of how stupid that sounds.

"She wanted to visit Mr. Hughes by herself today." Al covers quickly and I nod gratefully.

"Fine, but I swear, if you hurt her in any way, you'll wish you were dead." Mustang then turns and walks away.

"Damn…" I whisper, his threat still hanging in the air. He has no idea how ironic that is. But technically, I wasn't the one that hurt her. It was Winry.

"Are we going to visit them today? Check to make sure Jade is okay?" Al asks me but I can only shrug.

"I don't know Al. I don't think she'll want to see me." I sigh, desperately trying to think of a way to let her know that what Winry said was a lie. "I guess I'll just wait until she comes back here later today and see if I can talk to her. We'll just have to see."

Jade's P.O.V.

After hours of playing with Elicia and talking to Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, I decide it's time to be heading back. "Thank you for having me over." I say politely.

"It was a pleasure having you sweetie." Gracia smiles kindly at me, holding Elicia who's starting to fall asleep.

"Come back anytime you want." Maes adds, his arm around his wife.

"I will, thanks. Bye Elicia." I say sweetly to the child. She mumbles something and waves at me; I just smile back at her. "Alright, I'll see you later." I wave at the family over my shoulder as I walk away from the door, and it shuts behind me.

I exit the building, looking up at the darkening sky. Shivering slightly, I walk slowly back to the State Alchemist resting building. I'm not exactly excited to see Ed again, but I miss Al. I guess that even though Ed and Winry are…betrothed…I can live past that and stop being a jerk to Ed.

I finally make it back, meeting my uncle in the hallway first. "There you are. I was about to call Maes to find out where you were." He says and a small smile comes to my face.

"Aww, you were that worried about me?"

He smiles a bit too. "Of course I was."

"Well, I'm going to turn in for the night." I yawn a bit, smiling at him again. "Night Roy."

"Roy?" He asks, confused.

"Well, I'd call you Uncle Roy, but I'm not sure if everyone knows about our relationship yet. So, yeah." I shrug, not seeing the big deal.

"I don't mind." He promises me, smiling again. "Goodnight Jade."

I nod to him before walking down a series of hallways and up a flight of stairs. When I reach my room, I see Ed and Al outside, Ed sleeping against the wall. "Al?" I ask, confused as to why they're not in their room.

"Jade! There you are!" He stands up, about to shake Ed awake before I hold out a hand to stop him.

"No, let him sleep." Al nods reluctantly but turns to me again.

"We were worried when you didn't come back for a while."

"Oh, sorry. I was having a bit of fun with Elicia." I smile a bit, quietly opening my door. "You'll have to move him to your room." I tell Al and he just nods.

"Look, Jade? There's something that he needs to tell you." Al says quietly as I sit on my bed.

"I don't want to talk about it, Al." I look down at my hands. "Not tonight."

"I understand that, but in the morning then, will you at least hear him out? He's been bummed since you left." Al sounds genuine, though I doubt he'd lie.

"We'll see, alright?" I flop back on my bed, sighing. "Goodnight, Al."

"Night Jade." He says before going outside to take Ed back to their room.


	17. Chapter 16

I mentally curse myself for dreading getting up the next morning. "This shouldn't be so much of a problem." I tell myself quietly, slapping my cheeks gently to wake myself up. "We're friends; this shouldn't be getting in the way." I sigh, getting up and showering, the water reassuring myself more than my conscious. "Come on, what's the worst that can happen?" I ask myself, thinking of a serious answer.

_We won't be as close as before, because Winry must've told him that I like him too…_

Mentally face-palming for even asking myself that question, because I knew I wouldn't like the answer, I pull on my regular outfit, slipping some chalk into my pants pocket. I know that I'll have to bite the bullet sometime soon, so I walk as casually as I can down the stairs and into the cafeteria.

I immediately notice Al, being a giant suit of armor at all, and I therefor notice Ed sitting beside him. Al was right; he _does_ look bummed out. But why would he be upset? That I found out without him telling me? That's kind of stupid.

"Hey, Jade, are you going to just stand there or what?" I hear someone ask, snapping me out of my thoughts. I smile apologetically at my uncle, deciding to sit with him for now.

"Sorry, just thinking." He smiles back and offers me half his sandwich; I take it gratefully.

"Something troubling you?" He asks and I take a bite of the sandwich to give myself more time to think.

"Not really, nothing you need to worry about anyway." I say honestly, taking another bite of the sandwich.

"I'll worry about everything in your life. That's what uncles do." He smiles at me and I roll my eyes playfully.

"Where was this side of you ten years ago?" His smile falters for a bit.

"Stuck in a gutter." He replies after a while. "I'm still really sorry for that." I just shrug, finishing the bit of food.

"Hey, forgive and forget, right?" _How ironic… _I think to myself bitterly. Roy smiles again and I give him a quick peck on the cheek before standing up, smiling at his slightly shocked and embarrassed expression. "I'm going to take a walk, alright?" He just nods and I walk out the doors, hearing what sounds like frantic movement of a chair before…

"Jade!" My heart skips a beat as I keep walking, my dread to face this coming back. "Jade, please. I really need to talk to you." Ed begs from behind me. I stop for a moment, hearing his footsteps catching up with me.

"Fine, but outside, okay?" I say, not facing him, but he makes a noise of confirmation and we walk outside. I look around, slightly blinded by the light, before spotting a bench that looks comfortable enough. I walk over to it, plopping down gently and waiting for a moment. "Well? Are you going to sit or not?" I ask Ed who is standing there like an idiot. He sits beside me, but we don't make eye contact. "Were you ever going to tell me?" I ask him, looking down at my hands.

"Jade…" He begins but breaks off, not knowing how to finish that.

"No, it's alright. I understand. You love her, she loves you, end of story, right?" I look up at the sky again, the sun behind a cloud for the time being.

"No, no, not end of story." Ed says, finally picking up the confidence to speak again.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing more to that-"

"Yes there is, Jade." I look over at him in surprise, a concentrated expression on his face. "Look, what Winry said, it's a lie." I sigh, looking down again.

"You don't have to lie to me to spare my feelings. It's better this way." I'm tempted to get up and leave, but Ed must've realized that because I feel his hand gently on my wrist.

"Please, don't go. I'm serious, Jade." I give him a look, but I don't protest. "We're not betrothed."

"Then… why..?" I ask, scrunching my eyebrows together, like an answer will pop out of thin air.

"She was jealous." Ed says, his cheeks tinting pink. "Damn it, I can't even do this… not without… but… damn it…" He mutters to himself and I give him another look.

"A-are you okay, Ed?"

"No, I'm not." He says, looking me in the eyes. "I can't stand you ignoring me because of the lies Winry told, okay? She's jealous that… I…" It seems like his confidence is fading away, and I bite my lip a bit. "I like you, okay? Not her. And she's jealous because of that. So she made of something or whatever. I don't really know." My heart skips a beat again, but it's not out of dread again.

_Did he...? Did Ed just say he liked me? What the hell?! _

"Um… I mean, it's totally cool if you don't feel the same… I mean… it's crazy and all, I get that…" Ed starts to stutter, realizing what he just said. I feel my cheeks heat up, my heart fluttering in my chest.

_No way! He likes me too! _

My mind goes wild with happiness as Ed continues stuttering and trying to cover up. Finally, I just take his hand in mine, effectively shutting him up.

"So, it's honestly a lie? You're not betrothed to Winry?" I ask, though I'm sure he wouldn't like either.

"Yeah." He says, seeming relieved that I believe him.

"I believe you then." I smile a bit and he sighs in relief, visibly relaxing. "Sorry for being a jerk...back when we left…" I say, resting my head on his shoulder. I feel his head rest on the top of mine.

"No, it's alright. I'm just glad that you let me explain. I thought I'd go crazy." We both chuckle a bit before the sun becomes too warm for us, so we go back inside. "I should probably go tell Al." Ed says, his hand still in mine.

"I'll come along." I offer, smiling at him.

_That would've been the perfect time to say that you feel the same, you idiot. _My inner voice curses me.

_No, it's better this way. Let the trust reform between the two of you first, then find a better moment to tell him how you feel. _A softer voice in my head tells me and I listen to that one, walking with Ed up to his and Al's room.

"Hey Al!" Ed calls and the door opens, revealing Al's broad shape.

"Brother, Jade!" I can hear the obvious smile in his voice. "Did you two make up and stuff?"

"Yeah, sorry for being a jerk." I say to him. It really hurts me to hurt Al, even something this small. He's already like a little brother to me too, though we haven't known each other too long.

"No, it's fine." Al says, the smile still obvious.

"Well, we should be heading out then." Ed says to Al and I gain a puzzled look.

"Heading out?" I ask and Ed chuckles.

"I was going to invite you along with, but I had to clear that up first."

"Oh, so where are we going then?" I ask him as we go into their room, us sitting on one bed while Al takes up the other.

"We're going to Xenotime to look for the philosopher's stone." He says, growing serious.

"Ah, I get it." I nod to him. "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow." He replies, flopping back on his bed.

"Alright, well I'll pack and tell Roy that I'm going with you two. Hopefully he doesn't scold or lecture you after last time." I giggle a bit as I stand up.

"Roy?" Ed asks, twisting his face is slight disgust.

"Yeah, my uncle." I say slowly, like speaking to a five year old.

"I'm not stupid; I know that's his name. Why don't you call him 'uncle' or something?" Ed frowns and I just shrug.

"I don't know; because I feel like it? Got a problem?" Ed rolls his eyes.

"Why should I care what you call him?" I just sigh and smile at him.

"You're so complicated, Edward." I chuckle at his expression for me using his full first name before walking out the door. "See ya later, Al!" I call over my shoulder and I can hear him chuckle too.

I go down to my uncle's office, being let in by Lieutenant Hawkeye. She smiles at me as I pass, and I return it as I enter the office.

"Oh, Jade. Something you need?" Roy asks, looking up from his work.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going with Ed and Al to Xenotime tomorrow. So you wouldn't panic when I wasn't around." His expression hardens for a moment.

"Are you sure you're up to it? You almost died last time." He says honestly and seriously.

"I know, but I don't want to simply sit around like a bum. Besides, they're teaching me more, and that's what the train ride is for." He sighs but nods, giving in.

"Alright, just be careful. And if I get another call saying you're on Death's door I'm going to blow." We both smile as I giggle slightly, waving at him as I leave his office to start packing.


	18. Chapter 17

The next day, I take my packed bag to meet Ed and Al to catch the train. I just hope that we can find some information of the philosopher's stone there. The whole train ride, I read through my alchemy books, Ed giving me pointers every now and then. I catch Al looking at us and I give him a cheeky grin before looking down at the books again. Soon enough, we reach a kind of run down town.

"Do you really think we're going to find the philosopher's stone in a rundown place like this?" Al asks the two of us as we walk down a path towards the heart of the city. Ed and Al talk about this place being a previous gold mining town but I don't pay too much attention, looking around at the condition of the buildings and such instead.

"Elica! Hey, give me a hand." I hear someone say and I stop in my tracks, looking towards the sound of the voice. I can hear a little girl crying too, so I walk over, knowing Ed and Al will follow me.

"It's no use; it won't budge." A guy says. They're standing around a mine cart, a little girl trapped underneath.

"Daddy?" The girl asks, tears running down her face.

"Don't worry; we're going to get you out. I promise." A man says, who I'm guessing is the girl's dad.

"What's wrong?" Ed asks and the guy stands up, turning to us.

"My daughter, she's trapped!" The guy exclaims. The three of us run over, Ed kneeling down to inspect while I stand beside Al. Ed claps his hands together, touching them to the mine cart, and freeing the girl by changing the cart into something else. He then smiles down at the girl, making me smile a bit too.

A while later, we rest in a tavern, the people gathered around us thankfully. "Really, we're lucky to have an alchemist like you show up when you did." A guy says thankfully. "I can't begin to thank you enough."

"And don't forget about his metal father!" The little girl says, causing Ed to crack up laughing.

"No, you've got it all wrong. Al's not my father; he's actually my younger brother." Ed grins and I just roll my eyes.

"Younger brother? But he's so much bigger than you are." The girl says in confusion and now I start to laugh, as does Al.

"Anyway, we're just glad you're okay, Elica." Al says kindly. Then another guy suddenly runs in, the girl claiming him to be his uncle. But the girl's father shouts at him to get out before Elica breaks into a coughing fit. He gives her some water to drink and the guy leaves some lemons. Elica talks about lemon pies until a man mentions the philosopher's stone.

"The philosopher's stone?" Ed asks, suddenly interested. I perk up as well. But then they talk about how we're here to help some guy make the stone. "Wow, that's a lot of pressure." Ed jokes.

"Before you go, could you tell us the names of our saviors?" A man asks.

"Certainly." Ed smirks, getting that overconfident look again. "I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"And I'm his brother Alphonse. Alphonse Elric." Al says modestly. "And this is Jade, our student." I smile sweetly at them.

"The, uh, Elric brothers?" Someone asks, their smiles fading. "State alchemist, hero of the people Elric?"

Ed points his thumb at himself. "Yep." Two seconds later and the people kid Ed and Al out of the building, the both of them landing harshly on their faces.

"Hey, that's rude!" I exclaim before they toss me out too, a little more gently though. "Ouch!"

"What was that about?!" Ed asks angrily as the people glare at us.

"Shut up! The real Elric brothers are already working to save our town up there with Mugiar! Come back when you're ready to tell us who you really are!" And then they slam the door in our faces. Sighing, Ed decides that we should sneak in to investigate.

"Now why would someone go around using our names?" Ed asks quietly as we hide behind a wall. Al looks as uncomfortable with this as I feel.

"Brother, are you really going to sneak in there?" Al asks as Ed peeks around the wall at the guards.

"Of course _we _are." Ed says as he turns back to us, putting emphasis on 'we'. "To confront these imposters and get them to tell us all about the philosopher's stone!" We sneak through the grounds and I flinch every time we pass a guard, afraid the slight clinking of Al's armor will give us away. Ed claps his hands together, pressing them to a wall to make an entrance.

"Careful!" I hiss quietly at him. "The flash of your alchemy might give us away!"

He ignores me and we sneak into a place with a bunch of books. "Look at this." Ed whispers as we look over a few of them. "_All _these books are about the philosopher's stone!"

"Then this must be where they're making it, right?" Al asks quietly.

"No doubt about it…" I sigh; peering over Ed's shoulder a he studies a book. I hear what sounds like a door opening so I turn around quickly, just before a voice speaks.

"In case the guards weren't a clue, this place is off limits." I see a tall boy with blonde hair covering one eye, the one that spoke. Hiding behind his leg is a younger boy with the same blonde hair.

"By any chance are you guys the ones-" Al starts off a bit more politely, but Ed cuts him off.

"-stealing our names?"

"I take it that means you're the real Ed, in the suit." The tall boy says and Al points to himself in confusion. I resist the urge to smile.

"Me?" Al asks as Ed goes all insane again.

"No you dolt, I'm Ed! Why does everyone always think that?!" I put my hand on his shoulder to try to calm him down, though I know it probably won't work.

"Huh? So you're the older brother?" The little boy asks in confusion.

"Damn right!" Ed shouts, scaring the boy and making him hide behind the other.

"Ed, chill out! You're scaring him!" I scold Ed, giving him a serious look.

"Try to tone it down a notch." The taller boy suggests. "Or the gunmen will realize you're here." He starts walking towards us. "How bazaar. The younger brother wears a suit of armor to protect himself. It's hard to believe you're only fourteen."

"How do you know so much about us?" Al asks and Ed stands in front of me protectively.

"You want to start something with me?" Ed asks as the boy stops in front of him.

"No I don't want to fight with you Ed, so why don't you turn around and go home and leave us to take care of things here?" The boy suggests again.

"That's not the way you beg someone to do something." Ed states, glaring at the boy who's a few heads taller than him. "On your knees… I said get down on the ground!" Ed says, repeatedly pointing at the ground.

"What, so we could see eye to eye?" The boy asks nonchalantly, shrugging with a sly smile. "Surely you must be used to people looking down on you." Ed pretty much blows his top again, trying to punch the boy but failing. "An automail arm, huh? Guess the real Ed's seen some action too."

"And I'm glad to see you have some skills; I'd hate for you to be damaging my name!" Ed shouts, bringing up his automail leg to kick the boy. Ed then charges at him, but the boy lands a good hard hit on his cheek, making Ed fly back into one of the bookshelves.

"Ed!" I exclaim in worry, but I know he'll be alright.

"You know I've always wanted to find out what a certified State Alchemist is capable of." The boy smirks at Ed.

"Well, I think you're going to be sorry you asked." Ed claps his hands together and touches them to the ground, spikes going towards the boy.

"Not bad; you don't need a circle, huh?" The boy calls out to him, appearing around the corner, touching the ground, and emitting red sparks while summoning spikes of his own.

"The fake you doesn't need a transmutation circle either!" Al shouts as Ed barrels into him, pushing him out of the way of the spikes. A look of terror shows on my face as I draw the quickest circle I've ever drawn, touching it and creating a wall of ice to save me.

"Jade! Are you okay?!" Ed asks quickly, looking up from the ground. I nod, wiping away a drop of blood from a small cut on my cheek. "How did you..?" Ed asks the boy as he walks towards me. "You have a philosopher's stone?!" The boy simply smirks, first at Ed, then at me.

"What was all that commotion?" A new voice asks, probably a guard.

"It came from in here!" Another person says and we all look to the doorway in worry before the three of us, Ed, Al, and I, exit the place.

"Damn, I feel sore all over." Ed states, laying back on the ground where we sit.

"To think he was pretty powerful, huh?" Al asks and I put my arm over my mouth as I start to cough a bit. "You okay, Jade?" Al looks over at me. After the coughing has subsided, I nod to him.

"He had something giving him a boost." Ed answers Al's previous question with a scoff.

"Does that mean they finished making a philosopher's stone?" I ask quietly, leaning against Al.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Ed says with determination. It's quiet for a moment as we just watch the moon and the clouds that pass over it.

"You know, I wonder what those brother's real names are. Or if they're really even brothers at all." Al says quietly in thought. I can't help but wonder the same thing. It's quiet for another moment. "And I wonder if the older brother is actually much older than you are or-"

Ed cuts him off with a swift hit of anger. "Size doesn't mean anything!" I sigh, helping Al back up before I start to cough again.

"Are you sure you're okay, Jade?" Al asks me as I lay down, resting my head on his legs.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, though I'm not positive that's true. It's like there's something in the air, something bad… I can't help it but to soon fall asleep.


	19. Chapter 18

The next morning is a lot brighter, and when I start to wake up, I don't notice the cold of Al's armor. Opening my eyes, I see that I'm on a little cot on the floor of a house.

"What the hell?" I ask myself in a whisper, looking over to see Ed and Al on another cot. They get up as well now, but pass by me before I can ask where we are. Shrugging, I follow Al.

"Good morning." He says to the little girl from before.

"Hey it's the make believe Elric brothers." She says, noticing me as well. "And the girlfriend!" I go scarlet then as she returns her attention to Ed. "That must hurt. Did somebody hit you because you were telling lies again?"

"I'm telling you, we're not the imposters here, kid. But I did get clocked by one of them." Ed says stubbornly, his hand on a swelling on his face.

"Wait, you don't mean that you were the ones who snuck into Mugiar's mansion last night, do you pretend brothers?" The girl asks innocently.

"Of course we did! We can't let those phonies just run off with our names!" Ed states, crossing his arms. "Besides, it's a major crime to us a philosopher's stone to make gold. You're going down!" Al puts his hand on Ed's shoulder.

"Brother…" The little girl is looking down at the ground sadly.

"I'm going to see what I can find out in town." Ed says while walking away.

"Ed!" I say, frowning. "Ugh…" He walks away without even turning back.

"Hey, big guy." The guy with the lemons from before says. Oh, this must be his house.

"Yes?" Al asks, turning to face him.

"How would you like to run down to the pharmacy for me today?"

"What do you need?" Al asks him and I lean against a wall, feeling the need to cough again.

"Elica needs her medicine and your brother… he could probably use a cold compress." The guy says in response. Al nods and leaves to get the medicine.

"Al, wait for me!" I say, jogging to catch up to him and then coughing. "My throat is so sore." I state in annoyance.

"Are you sick too?" Al asks me as we walk side by side to the pharmacy.

"I don't think so." I wait outside the pharmacy while Al goes to get the medicine. My eyes widen in surprise as Al is kicked out. "Oh for the love of alchemy…" I sigh, walking over to him.

"Great, now how are we going to get that medicine for Elica?" Al asks me.

"Uh, excuse me." I turn towards the sound of the voice to see the younger boy from last night.

"You…" Al says in surprise.

"I can buy that medicine for you, if you let me…" He looks down at the ground, as if ashamed for something. "To make up for me borrowing your identity." He looks up now and I can see that his eyes are a beautiful purple color. I wait with Al as the boy goes to buy us the medicine.

"Here." He hands me a little paper bag as we sit on a pipe.

"Thank you." I say, handing it to Al.

"Very much." He adds on and we sit in silence for a moment. "I guess the both of us have older brothers who let their tempers get the better of them."

"Aren't you mad at us?" The boy asks, looking over at Al.

"I figure you have your own reasons." Al says back and I stand up and look up at the sky for a bit.

"I'm sorry. For us to work with Mugiar we had to have some credibility. The only way for my brother to pass as a state alchemist as a teenager was to claim he was the famous Edward Elric." I can hear the boy say.

"You want a philosopher's stone that badly?" Al asks and now I turn to look up at the two of them.

"My father… He devoted his entire life to working on the stone." The boy says sadly.

"So… your father was an alchemist too?" Al asks him quietly.

"Mhm. But then one day, he was suddenly gone. So now out of love for my dad, my brother insists on completing his research." I go and sit by the boy again, putting my hand comfortingly on his shaking shoulder.

"That's the opposite of my family." Al says and the boy looks at him in surprise. I know where this is going. "Our father was also an alchemist, but my brother hates him for it. He was obsessed with the science and our mother suffered because of it, especially when he left her, and us. On our journeys, my brother and I have met a lot more people who have suffered because of alchemy. Listen, if your brother is doing something you know is wrong, please, just be brave and stop him. It's tough, I know, but if someone else has to intervene, it will only hurt your brother more." The boy looks down again sadly.

"Al's right though." I say quietly to him. "They've gone through so much; everyone has. But we can't let that bring us down." The boy nods and we walk a bit more through the town now.

"Hey, have you noticed that there are a lot of people with bad coughs around this town?" Al asks and as if to prove his point, I start to cough a bit. The boy looks a little alarmed.

"Uh… no." He states and I catch his hesitation.

"Well, isn't this stuff cough medicine?" Al asks, looking at the package.

"Actually…" The boy starts out, but then he looks up the street to where his older brother is standing. Al and I follow his gaze. "Brother!" The boy calls out, but the older brother turns to walk away. "Sorry, I have to go now." He starts to run up the street when I think of something.

"Wait! Tell me your real name!" I call out to him and he stops to turn and face me.

"It's Fletcher!" He smiles before turning to follow his brother again. Al sighs and turns around, only for us to see Ed run past.

"Brother?" Al asks him. "Why are you running?"

"That imposter is around here somewhere!" Ed says in anger. "Have you seen him?" I hate to lie to Ed, but Fletcher… he's not what Ed thinks.

"No, we haven't." I say firmly.

"That unethical jerk. Did you know he's been transmuting wheels and fixing people's tools all over town?" Ed asks, stopping his walking in front of us.

"That's better than him using your name to do bad stuff." Al points out and I give Ed a 'you know he's right' look.

"That's not the point; it's the way he works! He's got no regard for the law of equivalent exchange!" Al and I gasp a bit in surprise. "Al, Jade, we're going to sneak into the mansion again tonight!"

"What? Just one day later?" I ask Ed in confusion. Has he gone out of his mind?

"Right, they won't expect us." Ed smirks and I gulp. This ought to be interesting…

That night, we sneak out of the house we're staying in, and back into the mansion grounds.

"Tonight we're trying operation Mole Hole." Ed says confidently with a smile.

"Mole hole?" Al asks him and I just shrug. Ed claps his hands together and touches them to the ground, making a deep hole. We all jump in, first Ed, then me, then Al. we crawl through the tunnel that Ed makes until he stops.

"By my calculations, we should be under the center of the mansion now." Ed says, looking up.

"Are you sure?" Al and I ask him at the same time.

"No, but we've got to come up somewhere." Ed says firmly, clapping his hands together again and touching them upwards, creating another hole. A purplish light shines from above. "We're in!"

We climb up through the hole, finding ourselves on a ledge by a stream of purplish-red colored water. The mist is the same color, like red wine.

"Ah, what is this?" Al asks, looking at the water and the gas.

"So that's their plan. I think this is the chemical used to produce the red stone." Ed says quietly, looking at the water.

"What red stone?" I ask him, but he doesn't take his eyes off the water.

"I remember reading something about it at the library in Central. It's a theoretical solid pumped full of alchemic catalysts. You put this red water under a few tons of pressure until it turns to stone." Ed says quietly. I start to cough again, worse this time. It's like I can't breathe at all.

"A philosopher's stone?" Al asks him as we all watch the water rush by us.

"No, more like a cheap imitation." Ed replies. "I think there was some alchemist named Nash that was researching the stone, but in the end it never panned out." Ed starts to cough now too.

"Brother! Jade!" Al says in worry.

"I'm having… some trouble… breathing…" Ed says through strained breath as I collapse onto the floor. "J-Jade..!" Then he too collapses, Al catching him before he can hit the ground.

"Brother! No, Brother! Jade!" Everything is so blurry… so blurry…

"This way!" I hear someone say.

"Who's there?" Al asks aloud, but I can't see anything anymore. The world is going black.

"It's me, come on. Hurry!" Is that… Fletcher?

"Fletcher…" The last thing I hear is Al's voice before everything goes black and silent.


	20. Chapter 19

"Jade, Jade! Can you hear me? Jade!" I crack my eyes open to something bright. The pounding in my head starts to go down as I wake up more.

"Al, what happened?" I ask as my vision returns to me. I look over to see Fletcher by Al who has Ed in his arms, out cold. "Is Ed okay?" I ask, sitting up carefully because of the slight pounding in my head.

"He hasn't woken up yet." Al says quietly.

"What _was _that?" I ask again, but no one answers me. "Look, he's waking up." I say quietly, looking at Ed.

"Brother? Are you alright?" Al asks him as Ed seems to snap back into reality.

"Where… Where am I, Al? And what the hell is _he_ doing here?" Ed asks, sitting up and looking at Fletcher.

"I'm-I'm sorry." Fletcher says, tears in his eyes.

"Ed! Don't scold him!" I say, putting my hand on Fletcher's shoulder.

"What are you sorry about? What'd you do?" Ed asks him in confusion, his gaze softening.

"No Fletcher, it's what you didn't do, isn't it? If you know something, tell us." Al says quietly and I turn to Fletcher with a confused look. "I get the feeling you don't like what's going on here."

"That red water you saw, it's a toxic substance that's been polluting the whole town. But it's… it's the vital ingredient for creating the red stone." Fletcher says quietly, his hands clenched on his knees.

"Is that why the people in Xenotime have been coughing so badly?" Al asks him, tears running down Fletcher's cheeks. I put my arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"I'm… so sorry…" Fletcher says as he brings his hands up to his face, turning into my embrace.

"Okay, this is ridiculous." Ed states as he stands up. "First thing's first; let's demolish this lab."

"I can't let you do that." I look over Fletcher's head to see his older brother, holding what looks to be a philosopher's stone, or at least one of the imitations. "After all the work we put into it, we finally created a red stone. My father gave everything he had in the pursuit of this breakthrough, Mr. Elric. If you think I'm going to give up now, you're quite mistaken."

"So you care that much about a lame piece of costume jewelry?" Ed asks him, smirking. The rest of us have risen to our feet by now, but I still stand by Fletcher. His older brother seems a bit… insane… His brother touches a lamp and in a flash of red light, a sword appears instead. "Yeah a fake sword from a fake stone, huh? I think I can top that!" Ed shouts while transmuting his automail arm into a sword.

He shouts a battle cry as he runs at the fake Ed, their blades clashing. Ed's automail starts to break the transmuted sword easily and Ed smirks. "Mine's the genuine article." The other boy knees Ed in the chest so he goes flying back, before touching his hand to the metal door behind him. What looks like a hose comes out and he holds it in his hand.

"What the-?!" I ask, looking at it in total confusion.

"Red water straight from the tap." The boy explains, smirking confidently. "If you're doused with it, you're a goner. You'll lose a lot more than your consciousness."

"Fine, let it rain!" Ed smirks as well, transmuting his automail into an umbrella. The boy blasts pure red water at him, the umbrella keeping Ed safe.

"Brother, this is crazy!" Al exclaims as Fletcher and I gain worried looks to our faces.

"Your brother's right; just go and you can live!" The older brother says, looking less confident now.

"Never! I'm not giving up to someone who wants to be… just like Daddy!" Ed says from behind the umbrella. The red water amount is increased, pushing Ed back a bit. He then slips in the water, Fletcher running from my side in the same moment. All you can hear is a crash before everything becomes clear. Ed sitting unharmed but surprised off to the side; Fletcher lying in pain in the red water.

"Fletcher!" I exclaim, running over to him and pulling him out of the water. I ignore the slight burn of the water on my own skin. "Fletcher, hang in there." I can see his brother has a horrified look on his face.

"Brother, the reason dad wanted to create a red stone was to bring happiness to people and make their lives better." Fletcher says to his brother from my arms. His brother looks away, ashamed. "But what we've been doing here, it's actually been making people suffer, hasn't it? Don't you see the cost of forging that stone? It doesn't matter who gets the credit anymore. Because this isn't… Because dad would be ashamed if he could see what we've done!" Fletcher exclaims, tears in his eyes again.

That alone seems to snap his brother out of it, shock registering on his face. We can then hear a whistle blown, and we all look towards the door in surprise and anticipation.


End file.
